Star Trek: Fractured Universe
by LauraCynthia
Summary: A novelization of the events depicted in the 2013 video game. Written by my brother and me. We own nothing except our original dialogue and details that the game didn't show. Starts with a teaser. If you haven't played the game, it'll still be fun to read. Note: Some of the details depicted in the game itself had to be adjusted or changed completely to remain canon. COMPLETE!
1. Chapter 1

One year after the destruction of Vulcan, a group of the top remaining Vulcan scientists have developed a device that could rapidly change their fledgling colony into a safe haven where their people can live and thrive. A lack of resources forces this operation to rely on an unexpected ally. At first it is welcome, but soon the scientists discover the high ranking Starfleet officials may have ulterior motives. And that's not all. An unplanned activation of the device causes a rip in space time, allowing an unknown force lurking beyond to gain passage through. Called into the emergency situation, Captain James Tiberius Kirk, Commander Spock and the valiant crew of the _Enterprise_ become entangled in a disaster quickly spiraling out of control. When the device is stolen and someone is abducted, Kirk is forced to lead the crew into a search and rescue mission that pushes everyone to the limit. Through underground facilities, exotic locales, and hostile ships, they discover the dark secrets behind the mysterious race that threatens their survival. Now Kirk and Spock must recover the victim and the device before time runs out for them, the ship, and the entire galaxy.

 ** _The darkened room beyond them only made Kirk feel even more nervous._**

The hairs on the back of his neck stood up as a cool, damp breeze brushed his skin. Another entranceway beckoned, but something held him back. Spock looked right, Kirk looked left. They saw movement in the shadows, but not in just one area. They were surrounded.

 _"_ _AMBUSH!"_

Kirk and Spock sprinted and dropped into cover as shots rained at them from the darkness from every direction in front of them. There was no room to move, to chance to shoot. Only fleeting images of Gorn heads and tails were seen as both men held down the fort.

"Their numbers are overwhelming. Surrender may be our only option!" Spock shouted over the deafening noise of blasting Gorn weapons. One hand gripped his phaser tightly while the other pressed against his cover.

"NO!" Pillager fire shot over his shoulder, close enough to feel the heat. "Don't give them an inch!" Rising up, Kirk fired back in the direction of the projectiles, before turning his attention to an enemy crouching on its right.

Warriors kept rushing in, quickly diminishing Kirk's sense of accomplishment. No matter what they tried, more kept coming. Eventually, their ammunition would run out.

A wink of light caught the first officer's eye. Spock's keen vision did not miss an object flying through the air and sticking to the boxes they crouched behind. It blinked with light and began whining. His reflexes reacted to the threat seconds later.

 _"_ _Captain, grenade!"_


	2. Chapter 2

_Prologue_

 _Prologue – Stardate 2259.27_

 _New Vulcan_

 _All I can do now...is wait._

T'Mar sat quietly in her dimly-lit quarters. Only the odd noise from her computer broke the silence. Hours of running simulations and managing various problems with her crew had all but drained her of all her strength. All she could think about were the coming weeks of testing, and what they meant for her people. Everything that she and her colleagues had worked on for months would be put to the test in less than four weeks. It was probably the most important project that any Vulcan had ever worked on, but then they had never been in this position before. This project had become more than just a goal; it was her mission; her responsibility. Now she would finally see the first signs that all the work she had done. It would have a lasting effect on Vulcan society as a whole.

It would save their new found home; the only they had left. The Vulcans had been pushed to the limit going through so much since the destruction of their homeworld only months ago. Every painful detail had remained fresh in her memory. The sounds and the sights of that tragic day were permanently etched into her mind. Everything was still so clear, so vivid. Sometimes it would come to her in her sleep, and other times when she heard a sudden noise or word that reminded her. Being so close to a new start, she was haunted by thoughts of the disaster. It only brought home how far they'd come and how far they had left to go. As she closed her eyes, the images flashed in front of her.

 _The Narada's drill boring deep into the planet's surface; the massive orange-white beam coming down from the sky. The sudden evacuation; panic ensuing and disrupting the usual calm atmosphere of the planet. There was a reported massacre of a whole Federation fleet, except for one called the_ USS Enterprise.

 _She could hear the screams in the streets as she desperately sought out her mother. She could have been at the science academy where she worked, but she wasn't sure. Her father dragged her away, hoping Savan had made it to another shuttle. The planet was under a full evacuation._

 _From her escape pod, she could remember seeing the black hole that ultimately swallowed Vulcan into itself. She shuddered and fell into her father's arms in shock; tears escaped her eyes and ran down her face as she stared back her world, at a complete and total loss of the composure Vulcans were supposed to have. The singularity had engulfed Vulcan, pulling it in on itself. A flash of brilliant light. Everything gone; her world, her mother, her friends and everything else that made her life normal._

The vast oceans, the rock formations, the vast cities. Within minutes, _everything_ was gone. All that was left were empty, cold, dark space where their planet once was, and a small black hole. And the violent, raw emotions, something that Vulcans were not accustomed to feeling.

 _Father._ He had to be the one to be the one to tell her sister, Vallanis, who had been off world at the time. She hadn't heard from her since. Devastation had overwhelmed her, too.

Greif. Loss. Pain. For some, it was too much to comprehend, even for the logical, calculating mind of a Vulcan. Some had wandered off into the wilderness, no longer right in their minds. Yet another punishing blow was that only around 10 000 Vulcans had escaped the planet in time to escape the disaster. They were in danger of being only a memory in the Federation's records. In danger of extinction, and the complete removal of their culture and heritage.

At that point in time, it seemed all was lost. Now, with construction well underway and Vulcans finally settling into the new colony, she could finally see the first flickers of hope for her people as a whole.

 _Hope._

That was something that T'Mar had held onto during the difficult first few weeks after the destruction. Comprehending what had happened, locating a new world for her displaced people, building, designing. It was stressful and tiring, even with all the help. But it needed to be done. It was imperative. To save their culture, their way of life and everything they held of value. It was up to her.

A project this big would take years. The energy and resources needed were tremendous. The Vulcan high council tried to support this with all they had, but their resources were later deemed insufficient. However, T'Mar and leading scientists from New Vulcan had been working without rest on a project that just might take years off the wait. It was called the Helios project. Not many Vulcans knew about it; her father said it was better that way. In theory, the concept was simple; the Helios station would be collecting energy from the binary stars near New Vulcan. This would be drawn upon for station, while the rest was used to power the terraforming their new home. Yet so complex to design, build and function properly. So much could go wrong. At best, the Helios Station and its massive solar collectors were only experimental; their long term integrity was still in question.

 _That is why I am here, because nothing can go wrong,_ she thought _. This testing is essential to Helios' success._ She tried desperately to fight of fatigue. These simulations and readings were important, particularly after a recent one indicated the presence of disturbing anomalies. Strange occurrences that her scientists that could not understand. Still, she had faith in the project, and her crew. The task of discovering a solution to prevent further anomalies was priority number one at the moment.

For hours, symbols, figures, and numbers danced by her on the screen as she ran test after test. This wouldn't be possible without the support of Starfleet, and in particular Commodore Daniels. She was surprised at first, him of all people taking a personal interest in the project. However, when he had offered resources and engineers from his station, she was pleased by Starfleet's support and didn't question it at the time. At first, she thought Daniels had the Vulcan's best interests at heart; though her opinion of him had changed. Lately, he seemed to be more interested in the side effects of the device, and he appeared oblivious to how bad things could get if they didn't perform the necessary tests on it. She would always be grateful to him, but he didn't understand that catastrophe could ensue as a result of the devices side effects.

 _How very human of him,_ she thought. But his motives didn't matter. With the stakes this high, she could hardly turn down his support, they were not going to find it elsewhere. Still, she was weary. Daniels had gotten impatient with all the tests, saying that they weren't necessary, that his engineers were sure that Helios was ready for activation. She didn't trust them either. Furthermore, the problems she had presented to him he simply thought of as an opportunity to be seized. She only trusted her own crew. As for her father's worries, she had already put them at ease. She was dependant on Daniels' help, but that may have put everyone at risk.

She would _not_ let Daniels or any of his crew interfere with this project. She turned to her console, and took a sip of her spice tea she had forgotten about and pushed a lock of her black hair behind a pointed ear. "Computer, run test number 0647 under hypothetical conditions of -"she started, but cut off as a male figure stood at her door, casting a shadow on her.

"Father," she said to him, "What are you doing here? I thought you would be speaking with Daniels about the Helios Station's supply needs."

"It is late, and I am feeling fatigued. I would have thought you would be too." Surok answered. He too had worked tirelessly with the Helios project. The exhaustion played across his face. He ran his hands down his face, down his dark beard. He knew this work load would come with the project. He was, after all, leader among the remaining Vulcans on the planet. "What are you doing awake so late?"

"I…am running all possible scenarios in simulation in preparation for Helios' activation." T'Mar answered, returning her attention to her console. "I wish to make sure nothing is overlooked. It wouldn't be logical to engage the Helios device without having first gone through all necessary precautions first, despite what Daniels says."

Surok stepped over and placed a hand on her shoulder. "It would also be illogical to repeat the simulations over and over without taking time to rest. All of us are working hard testing the device." T'Mar glanced away from her console and straight into her father's eyes. Surok continued softly "Do not shoulder the burden of this task alone."

T'Mar sighed. "Yes, Father, but I want to make sure everything will go right. You should know that a lot depends on the success of this project."

"I recognize your concern, but you need the energy to see that it is carried out properly." Surok gazed out the window at the stars. "It is impossible to thrive on little sleep and little sustenance. You need your rest."

T'Mar paused. "Computer, save program and terminate simulation program." The computer chimed twice. The screen went dark.

T'Mar spun around on her chair to face Surok, with a touch of resignation on her face, "Are you relieved?"

The corners of Surok's mouth turned up a bit. "Quite." As he walked out, he said, "Aside from information provided by the simulations, I _know_ that it will work. I trust you, T'Mar. You are brilliant. I would never have had the courage to do what you have done for New Vulcan."

T'Mar shared a look with her father, a slight smile formed on her mouth. "Thank you. I value your trust deeply. I do suppose I should seek rest".

"Indeed. Goodnight, T'Mar," Surok said, and then walked out, the door shutting behind him.

After Surok left, T'Mar changed, turned out the lights and lay down in her bed. But even after that all she could think about was Helios. Pictures played in her mind. First of the science team, her conversations, the construction of the Helios station, Spock prime's conversation with her about rebuilding. Not he nor Sarek, or any of the elders were aware of Helios. Surok had seen to it that they take advantage of the fact that the elders were off world. Elder Spock would have gone against Helios. He would have called it "too dangerous and untested". T'Mar was determined to make New Vulcan a haven for her people, even if that meant risks.

 _Spock. It had been a long time since she had seen his younger counterpart. Wasn't he on the Enterprise?_

Her father was right; exhaustion would avail her nothing, especially in the days ahead. Helios was on a tight schedule, and was already ahead of it.

 _No. I must focus on something else._

She closed her eyes and focused her mind on thoughts that were calming. _Savan_. Her mother had always been good at helping her focus her mind when she was young. Sometimes, T'Mar could even hear her soothing voice, her logical demeanour guiding her. Through her whole life, Savan had been there to offer advice and wisdom she had accumulated in her years. Her bonding, her growing up, her science academy days, everything that made her into the woman T'Mar had strived to be like. She supported her through it all. Just like Surok did now.

 _"_ _I love you, T'Mar. I am proud of you, and I know you will do great things one day..."_ her mother's voice echoed in her head.

 _I believe you were right, mother._

She inhaled deeply and exhaled, letting her mind drift off.

…

Surok gazed out the window of his quarters, hands behind his back. A month from now, Helios would be online. It was no surprise to him when Starfleet took an active role with it. He, like the other Vulcans who knew about Helios was grateful to Commodore Daniels for his assistance, but now Surok knew the Commodore had an ulterior motive. He knew that he was up to something. Daniels had insisted that he get more and more in return for the help he offered. Now, the Commodore had an interface that, among other things, controlled of the device's activation, claiming he used that to monitor the progress from his station. That could easily be accomplished by reporting with his engineers more frequently. Furthermore, his engineering team seemed more preoccupied with side effects of the device more than they helped its actual testing and operation. Surok went to T'Mar to discuss this with her, but she had convinced him of her control over it, trying to ease her father's fears. What she didn't know was just how much control Surok did had over the device, for precautionary measures. He trusted her implicitly, but he was starting to have his reservations about this.

 _I still do not trust Daniels,_ he thought. For now, however, the future of New Vulcan rested with Helios. The Vulcan people were on the verge of a new beginning. Finally, they will be able to restore some of what was lost. That was top priority. All of his efforts needed to focus on Helios.

 _If only Savan was here to see this. To see what T'Mar has become._

A look of pain passed over his face, but was quickly erased by anticipation. The thought of Helios' success filled his heart with assurance. Even though the elders were cautious of it, the benefits would soon prove to outweigh the negatives.

 _Our future lies before us._

 **…**

 _Stardate 2259.28_

 _Frontier Starbase 17_

"Sir, I have the duty roster here, as requested," said an eager young officer in a yellow shirt.

"Thank you Abaran, just leave it my desk when you leave," answered a voice from behind a tall chair.

"May I ask what's on your mind, sir? You've seemed distracted all day" Abaran asked.

"What do you mean," Daniels replied. He still didn't turn around. "Don't you have better things to do then stare at me all day?"

Lieutenant Lewis Abaran's throat tightened and he shifted a little from side to side. He inadvertently adjusted the collar on his uniform. "Well, uh…I noticed you haven't been answering any duty roster requests of officer's reports lately." _Not to mention the fact you didn't even look at Lieutenant Marbury once today. Her short pixie-cut blonde hair and blue eyes, not to mention "certain other qualities" about her that made her a looker. I caught you staring at her all last week._

"So what? It doesn't mean I'm going senile, it just means I have more important matters to attend to than all of your stupid requisitions."

"I'm sorry; I didn't mean anything by that…"

Commodore Daniels turned around to see his aide staring back at him intently. His greying black hair and worn face bespoke his over 30 years of duty. "We're off duty; you can loosen up a little. As for what I am thinking about, I doubt you can comprehend it". He spun on his heels, and spread his arms in a sweeping motion in front of him, "Imagine: Starfleet and the federation as we know it, changed forever!"

"It is an amazing thought. You are referring to Helios, aren't you?" Abaran asked, shifting back and forth on his feet. Uncertainty flickered in his eyes.

"Yes, of course I am!" Daniels said with an exasperated look on his face. _How obvious can I get?_ "I can see, among other things, a promotion for me, oh and of course means a promotion for you as well. And that is only the beginning."

"Promotion? Starfleet? If you don't mind me saying so, I thought the most that would come out of this would be great appreciation from the Vulcans." Abaran's face contorted. _Isn't that what it was all about?_

"Oh, yes of course." Daniels settled back in his chair, and his voice quieted. "I just meant that…Helios could do for other planets what it will do for the Vulcans. New federation colonies made in weeks. That means expansion, trade, and resources. All of which Starfleet wants and we can give." He leaned in closer to Abaran. "Now do you see what I mean?"

"Yes." _Actually, no. That wasn't your opinion before. Since when do you care about colonies? He wasn't even listening to T'Mar, never considered any of this before. All I've heard from you is talk of so-called glory._

 _Oh, well._ "Well, I for one am not going to argue with promotion." A smile appeared on Abaran's face, and his tensed muscles relaxed. Everything will be fine. After all, some of the best engineers were working on the machine. They would know what's best.

Daniels laughed "That's the spirit. You're a good man, Abaran. I'll see to it to put in a good word for you in my log. For your work". Daniels smiled and clapped him on the back. "How about we drink a toast?" Daniels handed Abaran a glass and poured a blue drink into each glass from a bottle previously concealed in Daniels' desk.

"Romulan Ale?" Abaran asked, though the aroma pretty much said as much.

"Only the best," Daniels replied. He lifted his glass "To Helios, and to Starfleet!"

"And to New Vulcan. May they…what is it they say, live long and prosper?"

"Yes." Daniels said, a look of irritation crossing his face. They both downed their drinks.

"You're dismissed. Report here at 0900."

"Yes sir. Goodnight." Abaran walked out, the doors shutting with a hiss behind him. He began considering what had played in his mind for weeks. _A promotion means better for me and Diane._ His wife had given him trouble for months since Abaran had been hand-picked by Commodore Daniels for assisting him with the project. She didn't like Daniels, said that there was something off about him. Abaran knew it too, but he wasn't going to allow his one opportunity to make a name for himself slip by.

He would be better. Better than any of the academy brass said he would be. Better than those who'd called him a plebe; that he was no better than "ensign material". He'd prove them all wrong.

Then he and Diane would be set. _Everything will be alright. You'll see._ He imagined her sweet slender face looking up at his, like he was the best thing since Zephram Cochrane had invented warp drive.

But was it? He didn't completely trust Daniels. Something was up, something was wrong and he knew it. Daniels wasn't telling him something. What was he up to? Abaran just kept walking toward his quarters. Only one thought remained in his mind.

 _What have I gotten myself into?_

 **...**

Daniels sat in his chair, staring out of the large window into space. His office was quiet now that everyone had left and it was late. He drifted between his own thoughts and view. Endless stars and planets sparkled in the blackness.

 _Soon, none of them will seem far away._

Nobody knew the ramifications of the Helios project better than he did. Not even T'Mar and her father could see what he meant. Helios was a life saver for the Vulcans. He could appreciate that. He really did want them to survive. Poor suckers had lost their whole planet to a crazy man from an alternate universe. Though he had to admit, his motives for helping this endeavour along were not all charitable. Helios could do a lot more than terraforming. T'Mar didn't see that. She was getting in his way. She and her logic. Same with all those other Vulcans. It frustrated him.

 _Amazing that for all her logic, she couldn't see the larger picture. The bigger benefits for not only Vulcan, but Starfleet as a whole!_ She simply lacked the vision for a possibility like this.

But he understood. She had her people's best interests at heart. T'Mar and her Vulcan crew members had found a "dangerous" side effect. This Helios device _could_ create tears in the fabric of space. Imagine that! Travelling over huge distances in a matter of seconds! Starfleet could gain an incredible tactical advantage from this. It may even tip the balance of power permanently in the Starfleet's favour! After the failed Romulan terrorist attack by Nero on Earth added on to the threat of a war with the Klingons, this could save lives and end the ongoing threats. Starfleet couldn't simply sit back and wait for the inevitable.

 _Dammit, we almost lost Earth! You, T'Mar, of all people should understand how important this is._

He was determined not to let this opportunity pass by. This could be the moment he had been waiting for: to finally rise in Starfleet's ranks. He placed his hands behind his head and leaned back in his large office chair. A broad smile stretched across his face. _Maybe I could finally get off this Starbase,_ he mused.

His computer chimed. It was the latest report from his crew on New Vulcan. A bearded science officer appeared on his screen.

 _"_ _Sir, we have just wrapped up for the night"_ a voice said through the comm.

"Very good. What do you have to report?"

Confusion filled the officer's voice. _"The Vulcans have come back with new results of strange energy readings. Unknown origin. We see the same thing as well. "_

Daniels stood up and strode over to get a coffee from his replicator. "Coffee, dark, no cream or sugar. 72 degrees" The computer chimed, and then a steaming hot cup appeared in front on him. He then turned his attention to the screen. "What does this mean?" He took a sip.

 _"_ _Well sir, the Vulcans suggest that further testing is needed. Another six weeks. At least."_

The commodore almost choked on his coffee. _What?!_ He calmed himself down, though his face was tense. "What is your opinion?"

 _"_ _Well, we don't think it is much to worry about. We've been over this a hundred times."_ The blue-shirted man shrugged. _"The device itself seems sound."_

 _Great. More delays. "_ Just send me the findings and the Vulcan's report, Allen. I'll talk to you later." He shut off the computer feed and tapped his computer to see the report file. He stroked his chin, browsing through it. Allen was correct. The Vulcans required more tests. An additional six weeks would be added onto the launch date of the Helios device. That meant that he'd have to wait two months to see his plan go into action.

 _Another six weeks? What more do they need to test? The food dispensers?_

Anger grew within Daniels. He had put up with delay after delay. The reports on the side effects – including possible anomalies from his engineering crew came back inconclusive. T'Mar was apprehensive regarding the consequences of such an occurrence, even though the chances were minimal. And to him, minimal meant irrelevant.

 _This is it. The time has come._ He had control over the device. Forget about what T'Mar or the others have to say. Tomorrow, he would start up Helios. His team was ready on standby, and would monitor if anything went wrong. He wasn't just confident, he was certain this would work.

 _All my time and effort will finally pay off this time. After all I've done, I deserve this._

Starfleet would see that he was meant for better things than babysitting a Starbase full of rookies who don't know the first thing about space. Furthermore, it was in the middle of nowhere. Of all places, why here? He had served faithfully for years, and then when his career starts to wane, the stupid Starfleet brass decide to stick him out here while they're sitting comfortably in a San Francisco office somewhere by the bay. Meanwhile, an insubordinate little punk who didn't even graduate the academy gets handed the flagship of the Federation. What was Admiral Pike thinking? Heroes or not, that man did not deserve to get captaincy over the USS _Enterprise_. Even his name was pretentious. As though he had earned the right to have it spoken in full.

 _James Tiberius Kirk._

He leaned forward and tapped his console to start his log.

"Commodore's personal log, Stardate 2259.28…."

 **...**

 _Stardate 2259.29_

 _Helios-1 Station_

T'Mar raced through the doors to the main control center on the station. She had known there was something wrong when she had awoken that morning. The night before she had transferred to the station to see the last steps of construction on the Helios-1 station and to get more readings on the anomalies she had detected. She did not expect the worry she saw in her first officer's face. That morning, the Helios device had been activated. Immediately, she contacted the engineers from Starbase 17. They had claimed ignorance. And she believed them. She knew Daniels was responsible. He was the only one that had been impatient with the delays. How could he do this after the repeated warnings she had given him on the risks?

"Sepak, what is the status of the device?" T'Mar called out to her first officer.

"Remarkably, it seems to be stable. For now, we are monitoring it closely, but there does not appear to be anything unusual." He replied, climbing down a ladder from the upper level. The room was lit in blue light, with several consoles and computer screens displaying various Vulcan texts scan readings, and holographic projections sections of the station.

T'Mar bit her bottom lip while she thought. "Have you made any contact with the colony station? Perhaps my father will know more."

"We are having considerable difficulty contacting anyone on the planet's surface, let alone the station. Some strange interference from an unknown source is somewhat jamming communications. There is also interference coming from the stars themselves."

"Speculate. Could the unknown interference be another anomaly?"

Sepak briefly looked over his shoulder at the console several other Vulcans were working at. "…that may be the case, its origin point is a distance away from here, but all the anomalies we encountered were minor energy fluctuations or small tears."

"We must ascertain the nature of that anomaly. Take Salek and T'Lera with you." T'Mar walked over to a large holographic display of the station. It was holding steady. No warning lights were flashing. Energy levels were stable and levelled off at an optimum point.

 _At least we are safe. For now._

She turned to her communications technician sporting a light blue full uniform. "T'Sol, have you been able to establish communications with New Vulcan?"

The technician strained to listen to her ear piece, then glanced at her console and pressed is twice. "We are able to send a message out, but we will not be able to know if they were received unless we get a reply."

"Then you must attempt it. When you have them, patch it through to my quarters."

"Aye aye, Captain," T'Sol replied, and switched the communication channel to T'Mar's quarters.

T'Mar exited the control center and made her way down a hallway to her quarters. She had to admit, the station was running adequately. Energy transfer from the station to the Helios device was underway. It was possible, though unlikely, that the anomalies were minor and that Helios was already succeeding. It was more likely the case that things were going to get worse. Much worse. The anomalies appeared to cause tears in space. The consequences could be disastrous. This was all Commodore Daniels' fault.

 _This is also all my fault. If I hadn't allowed him control of the device, if I had performed the tests before Helios-1 was built…_

It was not the time to argue with oneself. Right now, she knew that she needed to contact her father and the others on the surface to find out what the interference was coming from, and whether or not the device was functioning normally on New Vulcan's surface lab facility. She sat down at her desk and tapped the screen.

"T'Sol, are you ready?"

"Yes, patching it through now." There was a brief pause. Then, T'Sol said, "Channel is open, captain."

T'Mar tapped the controls once. "Surok –Can you hear me, father? Helios has been activated ahead of schedule, but we have not finished our testing. It must have been Commodore Daniels' doing. He has been pushing us to activate the device but he does not understand the risks involved. Activating Helios before it is ready could be problematic! Father, please respond."

She cut the communication. It would only be a matter of time before she knew whether or not the message was sent properly, let alone if it had gotten to Surok. The systems on board Helios-1 were stable. Everything was functioning properly. That, however, was not her worry.

Without those tests, T'Mar couldn't be certain that the device wouldn't cause system overloads in the station, or problems down on the planet. Daniels may have put her entire crew and the entire planet in mortal danger. Her dependence on his assistance may have only put everyone at great risk.

 _What have I done?_

…

 _Stardate 2259.30_

 _Main Laboratories_

 _New Vulcan_

Surok paced back and forth across the floor. The lights brightly illuminated the laboratory he was in. The Vulcan scientists around him were hard at work, monitoring their consoles carefully. Silver wall panelling curved away from the center of the room. In a word, it was functional, typical of Vulcan architecture. Panels and displays lit up every wall, and two large displays seemed to hover above a single central console. A circular wall had a short stairway on either side that led up to another level. Though designed to be calming, the ambience of the room had little effect on their concern levels. For a while, the device had been working fine. But just before he had thought about a celebration for its founding, Surok received the news that shook him to the core. Something was dreadfully wrong. Somewhere deep inside him, he knew it.

"We still cannot contact the station," a Vulcan scientist called out. "I have tried everything , but the interference is getting stronger."

"Is there any way you can analyse what is going on up there? We must get an updated scan to properly assess the situation." Surok replied, hands now clenched into fists behind his back. "What have you been able to determine?"

"There appears to be some unusual energy readings on the station." A scientist said, his eyes showing a look of worry.

"Vonik, what is the origin of these readings? Is there something wrong with the energy transfer units?" Surok strode quickly over to the wall and tapped a console screen. It beeped once and zoomed in on a diagram of the station, though the readings he got fluctuated rapidly. His expression hardened.

Another Vulcan chimed in. "The same disturbance that was interfering with communications are happening on the station. It is unlike anything we have ever encountered before. "

Surok stiffened and turned around. "Is it having any negative effects on the station?"

"Readings are inconclusive, but I would guess that they are in no danger. For the moment. The station can withstand it for now, but I cannot anticipate what this interference will do to primary systems."

The consoles continued to beep and flash while the room was filled with commotion. People pouring over data, just as Surok had asked when he found out the Station may be threatened. And Helios. This was turning into his worst nightmare, and it could only get worse. The station was the principal component in harnessing power for the device. T'Mar and her crew were the only ones who knew how to work on the Station. And T'Mar was his daughter.

He had received her message, though just barely. Daniels had activated the device long before it could be ready. Once again, the Commodore had shown his impatience and imprudence, along with his lack of foresight or care for the safety of the crew working on the device. This time, however, it could result in something a lot more serious than mild annoyance. It could mean a loss of the station. A failure of the project. And possibly what Surok feared most.

 _A hole in space, maybe multiple holes; countless complications that could put the station and its entire crew and jeopardy._

That was something Surok could never allow. If only he could find out what was going on out there. Any attempt at scans of the situation always came back inconclusive. At every turn he met another obstacle.

"Commander, I have obtained a reliable reading. 96.68 percent accuracy. The interference is as a result of several spatial anomalies. They have caused a rip, in space itself. It is growing at an alarming rate!" Vorik's tone heightened as he continued. "I am also detecting…."

"What? Tell me now, what is it you detect?" Surok felt a bead of sweat trickle down his neck. For hours he had hoped it wouldn't come to this.

All of the colour drained from Vorik's face, as he swallowed and adjusted the settings on his computer. "I am detecting vessels of unknown classification emerging from the anomaly. They may be headed toward New Vulcan."

Silence echoed through the room. Surok went quiet as well. Though his mouth was open slightly, he could not put the words together to properly express his feelings in that moment.

 _No. This could not possibly be happening._ This was a worse outcome than he could have imagined.

The older Vulcan man licked his lips and swallowed. "Is it possible they can detect the station?"

"Unlikely sir. The interference should hide it from their scanners."

A taller, older Vulcan with a beard stepped forward. "Commander, I recommend that we attempt to contact the vessels to ask them to identify-"

"Do it, Sitek. It does not matter how small the chance is that is can get through. Try to communicate with the station as well, but on a secure channel!" Surok called out as he broke into a light run toward the communications center. Secure channels only. If they could contact T'Mar, he wouldn't let whoever those unknown vessels were known where the station was.

"Vorik, analysis." He said, while intently watching Sitek and another Vulcan work on the coms.

"There are six vessels, all about the same size. More are coming from that rip."

"Is there any way to close it, or seal it off?"

"Sir, the Helios device is the cause of the anomalies. We _do_ know that." The young Vulcan male's hands hovered over the controls. "However, without further analysis and testing, we do not know much about how they are formed or how they can be neutralized."

 _I was aware of that,_ Surok thought. _I knew of the potential side effects from T'Mar's reports a week ago. If only I hadn't given Daniels any control._

"Speculate. Quickly." His tone was sharp.

"We can limit its power source, maybe cause it to collapse." Vorik said.

Surok looked over to him. "Explain."

Turning in his chair, the narrow faced scientist addressed not only his superior, but the others who were listening into the back and forth conversation concerning the single most important project Vulcans had ever been involved in. The pressure of dozens of eyes did not phase the man one iota.

"Helios caused the initial anomalies during tests conducted on its power output. The device appeared to manipulate the fabric of space as a result of the energy we collected from the binary stars. This "manipulation" has caused several anomalies, and now there is a large rip is space increasing in size as we speak. If we were to cut its power source…"

Surok broke in. "If we shut off the device, we may stop the anomaly but the station will overload because of the excess power not being rerouted to this laboratory. An overload of that size would destroy their main power collecting systems. It would risk a complete system shutdown on the station."

There was brief silence, and then Surok ended it. "How long could Helios-1 survive out there without power from the stars?"

"Assuming that the overload is limiting to the solar collectors and nothing else, the station will have approximately…50 hours of reserve and auxiliary power before it starts to fall into the star's center. Then it will only have seconds."

"It is our only option." Surok knew that when Daniels had taken over control of the device, he would have to build a failsafe to allow him override Daniels' commands. He did not know that using it could cost his daughter and the whole station to prevent disaster.

 _She has two days. She is responsible, and she is resourceful. She will get herself out in time._

On one hand, he had to stop this apocalypse from occurring. The ships coming through could be hostile. The rip could destroy a lot more as it grows. Millions of lives could be at stake. He had to stop the rips from forming. But how could he potentially sentence his own daughter to her death, along with her crew? Pain ripped through him. He had lost Savan to tragedy. How could he bare this?

 _I must do this. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. It is logical._ At this point, he needed to contact T'Mar with his findings, to tell her what had happened.

"Initiate deactivation sequence. Shut the Helios machine down at once. I will put in the activation codes." The words left him quietly. He could not know what this meant, except that it may stop the rips. He strode to his console, typed in the code, and he and Vorik placed their hands on the panels side by side.

"Surok, activation code Alpha One-three-six-two-four-four-zero- Delta-nine-seven-gamma-five-three-eight-one-one." He looked at Vorik. "You will now have access to manually deactivate the device.

"Aye, sir."Vorik led three Vulcans across the room and directed them to the labs below, while he stayed behind.

"Sir, I have contacted the unknown vessels. Audio only."

"He also wanted the station. Have you been able to contact T'Mar?" Vorik said, crossing his arms.

"He is right, I did, but first. " He turned to a communications officer. "Have they made you aware of their intentions,Stonn?"

"Our translators," Stonn said as he strained to listen, squinting his eyes slightly, "are having a difficult time understanding them. I cannot ascertain what they want. All I have been able to find out is there identification."

Surok and the others waited silently, listening to the garbled mess of grunting and growling through the communicators.

"They call themselves, 'the Gorn.' "

 **…**

 _Stardate 2259.32_

 _Helios-1 Station_

It had been two days since Helios was placed offline. The station had suffered a massive surge in power that had disabled a lot of the main systems, and the working ones had been losing power, and wouldn't last much longer. T'Mar knew this was disaster. She also knew that unless they found some way to stabilize their altitude and find enough power to send out a distress signal, or get the bay doors open to get off the station, her crew would be lost. And so would Helios. She knew that Surok was the only one who could have shut this down, and that he would only shut it down for a logical reason. Something had to have given him no other alternative.

 _But what could have possibly convinced her father there was no other way?_

"The damage is only getting worse, captain. Just when it seems that we have handled one overload or damage, another problem quickly arises. Based on the rate of power loss from our reserves, we should lose structural integrity in less than two hours." Sepak said standing ramrod straight, arms behind his back. His appearance barely betrayed his angst.

"Understood. We cannot afford to wait any longer for assistance from New Vulcan." T'Mar replied staring back at him while she placed a hand the side of her head to rub away the pain she had incurred from an earlier jolt the station had taken,

 _BOOM!_ A loud, low rumble shook through the station. That was never a good sign.

"Report!"T'mar called out.

T'Sol called over from her computer without looking over. "Another power converter just blew out, and the solar shield is starting to give way."

Velak, another Vulcan near her quickly added. "Captain, if that shield should fail, than our chances of surviving are almost zero. The exposure to the effects of the stars would be more than our physiology could handle. I recommend that we immediately focus attentions on manning the shuttles and getting the bay doors power to open immediately."

"No. I know the consequences of waiting, but we cannot take everyone in the few working shuttles we have. I will exhaust _every_ option we have left at our disposal before that one. I refuse to leave unless everyone gets off safely. It is my responsibility." T'Mar's expression hardened as she said that, because she knew she didn't have many other options left.

"T'Sol, we must send out a general distress signal, all frequencies, and all languages. At this point we can use any assistance anyone can provide."

T'Sol nodded, "Yes, Captain. Though I must warn you, doing so may alert the wrong people. Even though Starfleet will most likely be first to respond, we cannot be sure-"

"-that is a risk that, at this point, I am willing to take."T'mar leaned down to the console.

Suddenly, a large explosion knocked everyone flying. T'Mar struggled to regain her balance. Before she could open her mouth, she noticed something flashing on her computer. Flashing red, all over the station's hologram. Structural integrity was at critical at best and severe cascading power failures had cut the station in two.

 _No…_

Sepak starred in disbelief. "We are cut off from the other side of the station. That is where the shuttles are. _And_ the escape pods." His face twisted.

T'Mar paused, and then spoke quietly. "But not the transporter. Sepak, get everyone to the main control and transporter rooms. I will be there shortly." She tapped the console. Sepak grabbed her shoulder, not allowing her to start the communication. Meeting his level, unwavering gaze, she waited for his response.

"Captain, moving there would only put us closer to the binary stars, and the radiation. Though negligible, it is dangerous. Furthermore, trying to transport through that interference is not advisable, nor is it safe. We have nowhere to transport to that is not long range, and doing so would add only further complications." The explanation barely required a breath to complete.

Sirens went off. They both looked up, steadying as the station shook.

"Fire suppression and environmental systems have failed. Evacuate the deck immediately." The computerized Vulcan voice rang out.

"It appears we do not have a choice. Sepak, follow my orders at once. Go and make sure everyone from the crew gets out of here. I will follow shortly." T'Mar went to work at her console.

"I…I cannot go without you, captain." Sepak showed genuine worry, but shifted his look back to a firm stare. For a moment, it was as if he wanted to stay instead of her. "As your first officer, I cannot allow you to put yourself in danger."

"Sepak, this is my fault. I must send out this distress signal." Her look softened slightly. "I will not put myself in any unnecessary danger." His face didn't show its usual composure. One could say the expression was almost sad.

They shared a look. "Understood, Captain." With that, he rushed out of the room, urging other Vulcans to follow. T'Mar, watched them leave, and then coughed twice. She could feel the air rapidly thinning. She would only have one shot at this communiqué.

 _"_ _If anyone can hear me….This is… T'Mar…Captain of the Helios Station….We are in desperate need of help….Station integrity…is compromised, and our systems are failing….we need immediate assistance. If anyone can hear this….please respond…."_

With that, T'Mar used the last of her failing consciousness to reroute communications to the main control room. Really, it was what would now have to be main control, because it was one of the few remaining areas of the station where she was that was functioning. She could feel the lack of oxygen getting to her. Her chest rose and fell rapidly. She tried to slow it down; the air in the room was running lower by the moment. She focused her mind and began pulling herself out, using the friction between her flat hands and the floor to move toward the doors.

Quickly she dragged herself out of the room, the doors whooshing shutting behind her. She crawled over to a panel on the wall and pressurised the room. Now she had to hope that someone would respond. She gasped as a breath of clean air filled her burning lungs.

Another loud, long rumble shook the station.

 _Before it is too late for all of us._


	3. Chapter 3

**...**

 _Chapter 1_

 _Stardate 2259.32_

 _U.S.S. Enterprise– Bridge_

Lieutenant Nyota Uhura sat at her station, straining to her through the static on her comms. The bridge was alive with activity, but nothing could draw her attention away from her job. One communiqué in particular was of interest to her; it had begun only a couple of minutes ago. She briefly reached back to adjust her long ponytail as the static cleared slightly.

 _"_ _This is… T'Mar…Captain of the Helios Station…"_

 _T'Mar._ That name sounded Vulcan. She quickly traced the communiqué back to its source. The answer she got wasn't at all what she wanted. Some interference with an unknown cause was making it difficult to pinpoint exactly where the signal originated from, but it was definitely utilizing a Vulcan identifier. Refocusing her mind, she tried to make out the rest of the message.

 _"…_ _If anyone can hear this….please respond…."_

 _Oh, no._ She knew if the person on the other end was Vulcan, it meant that the station might have more Vulcans on it as well. Instantly, her thoughts shifted to Spock. He couldn't afford to be witness to another Vulcan tragedy. After the loss of his homeworld just months ago, he had seemed distant and in pain, despite the stoic demeanour he shared with others of his race. He _was_ only half Vulcan, but his human side rarely got a chance to show itself. That had only become worse after the disaster. He seemed to show his human side less and less. No matter how she tried, there were some things he just wouldn't tell her, feelings he couldn't share. She knew it would take Spock time to grieve for all the people lost that day, but she desperately wanted to help ease his pain. When she asked him, he always insisted that he was okay, but she knew better. She had seen him looking alone, lost and hurt when he sat at his station or in their quarters. It was only when she entered that he put up a wall and began speaking to her as if nothing was wrong. His behaviour was worrying her.

When she spoke to Dr. McCoy about it, he assured her that she was doing all she could, and that "time might help heal him, but I don't know how any of us can get over it." She could tell he too wanted to do more. It was more than McCoy's job as chief medical officer or his heart of gold that made him feel that way. He and Spock were always at odds with one another, but were undeniably good friends as well.

Something else troubled her. Spock had been taking so many risks with himself on away missions. It was happening more often these days. It almost seemed as if he didn't care whether he lived or died anymore. That hurt her even worse. She loved him, and hated to see him go through this alone.

The message played over and over until it cut dead. In Uhura's experience, that was never a good sign. Something was terribly wrong; in the years she had gotten to know Spock, she knew that Vulcans could usually figure out the best way to handle any problem themselves. They certainly would never terminate an emergency signal unless either the problem was fixed, or it had gotten worse enough to cut off the communications altogether.

If they had fixed it somehow, they would have sent a subsequent message. There was none. Just dead air.

She quickly flipped the subspace communication channel off and switched to internal comms to contact the captain. He and Spock had to be informed immediately.

 **...**

 _Stardate 2259.32_

 _U.S.S. Enterprise – Spock's Quarters_

Captain James Tiberius Kirk carefully contemplated the three-dimensional chess board in front of him. He leaned forward, one arm casually draped over one chair arm, the other crooked on the right chair arm. He stroked his chin in deep thought, considering moves and counter moves to use against his First officer, who had proven to be quite the formidable opponent. Spock sat across from him with the usual neutral expression on his face, though his eyebrows were raised slightly with intrigue. His back was ramrod straight, a hand on each knee. His eyes carefully moved between the playing surface and the Captain's eyes as if trying to anticipate what he would do next.

As he usually did with his friends, Kirk spent the time not on the bridge engaging in recreation. If not Spock, it was McCoy who wasted away the hours over games or holo-programs with him.

"It is your move, Captain." Spock said, drawing his eyes up from the board, tilting his head slightly to the right.

"I'm aware of that, Mister Spock." Kirk raised a hand tentatively and let it hover there, his mind racing to make a move. His brow furrowed. Then, he suddenly found it.

 _Aha….there we go…._ His eyes caught on a move he had considered earlier. Now was the time to execute it. It seemed perfect.

He reached out and moved his bishop on the third level over with confidence beside Spock's rook. Before he could lean back to appreciate his genius or await Spock's next move, the Vulcan leaned forward with confidence and took out Kirk's bishop with his king. Kirk stared for a split second in disbelief, then glared at Spock and leaned back on his right fist, hitting his knee with the other.

 _"_ _Damn it!"_ He should have seen that one coming. How had he missed it?

"Your choice was valid, Captain, but highly predictable."

Kirk gave Spock a quizzical look. "Predictable? Since when have I ever been predictable?" he asked, raising his hands up in question.

"That is precisely _why_ the move was predictable, Captain."

Spock had only explained what was true, which was why he couldn't understand why Kirk took offence. He knew that, and because of how much he'd gotten to know Kirk in the time he'd served as his second-in-command, he knew how his Captain thought. Kirk knew how Spock thought as well, but still hadn't gotten used the very direct manner in which the Vulcan spoke.

Slight frustration rose in Kirk. He leaned forward pointing a finger at Spock. "Another –"He never got to finish whatever he was going to say.

At that moment he was cut off by Uhura's voice over the intercom. It resonated in Spock's quarters. They both turned to the comm on the wall to listen.

" _Captain, we have received an emergency signal from a nearby space station. Please report to the Bridge at once."_

Spock got up from his chair. "Shall we finish the game later, or do you concede defeat?"

Kirk got up as well, chuckling slightly. He didn't stay mad for long. "You should know me better than that by _now_ , Spock. I _never_ concede." He placed a hand on Spock's shoulder, smiling and the two turned to leave the room. Just as Spock reached the doorway, Kirk snuck back to the game, glancing over his shoulder to see if Spock was looking. Once he was sure the Vulcan's attention was occupied, he grabbed Spock's queen and moved it over one space. He then broke into a jog to catch up to Spock.

 _Ha. Let's see him predict that._ He tried to hide a slight smile.

 **…**

Kirk and Spock strode down the short distance of the hallway to the bridge. Spock thought it was only practical (and logical, of course) that he keep his quarters close to the bridge where he worked. That way he could arrive quickly if any situation should warrant him to be on the bridge quickly, like this one. He had suggested the Kirk do the same. Kirk declined, and kept his own quarters. Even the captain of the _Enterprise_ needs a little distance from it all off shift, after all. The walk took them by the usual sights and sounds of a walk down any given corridor: the uniform white walls curved outward like tunnels, three rows of ceiling lights, computer stations and doors right and left. Kirk heard, in addition to the same sounds he heard every day, the usual chatter among crew. Two crew members from engineering and science talking…

"Did you try reversing the phase oscillation?"

"That's the first thing I tried!"

"I'm stumped"

They continued down past an Orion woman dressed in red, one of the three colours officers wore. You knew she was Orion because of her green skin, and who could miss that bright orange hair. She stood in the hall looking at her personal PADD going over something. When she saw the two of them, she waved. They waved back and continued. He could still remember how awkward it was when he had mistaken her for Gaila, a girl he knew in the academy. Thankfully, she didn't seem to remember the incident.

Up ahead, to non-human crew members stood arguing over something that wasn't of any particular interest for Kirk to listen in to. Finally they arrived on the bridge. Spock strode over to his station near Uhura's while Kirk walked toward the Conn, right in front the view screen. He addressed his navigator seated at the station in front of him.

"What's going on down there?"

Uhura responded first. "The radiation from the binary stars is making communications difficult," she said, turning her chair from the captain back to her console, "but the station appears to be in some sort of distress." She pressed the earpiece into her ear and attempted to clear the static from it.

Kirk sat down and adjusted himself in his chair. "Hmm…Chekov, readings?"

All attention on the bridge turned to Ensign Pavel Chekov, spinning around in his chair to look at the captain. After briefly consulting his instrumentation, he managed to get a look at the stricken station's readings. They were not good.

"They are operating on emergency power and are struggling to maintain altitude."

"Cause?" Kirk asked.

"Unknown, sir." Chekov replied, turning back to his console. At just 17, he was the youngest officer to be placed in active duty on a Starship. His youthful face, and his high amounts of intelligence and enthusiasm made him stick out a little more than he'd like.

"Captain, they have issued a request for immediate evacuation." Uhura's tone showed she was slightly on edge. This was exactly the kind of trouble she feared it would be.

"Then let's help 'em out. Mister Scott, prepare transporters." Kirk relaxed in his chair and crossed a leg over the other. Evidently he was confident about this situation turning out favourably. In his brief but considerable time as Captain, Kirk had developed a certain level of maturity not seen when he first began he studies at Starfleet academy. Just a start, a hint, but to McCoy any improvement was welcome.

"I wouldn't recommend it, sir." Montgomery Scott answered, getting up from his station to walk toward the Captain. "Those stars are givin' off too much interference. Unless we achieve manual lock, we might _fry_ those little guys."

Kirk stood up. "Then we'll get 'em out the old fashioned way. Prepare my shuttle and meet me in the bay." He began to head toward the turbo lift.

"Aye aye, sir" Scott replied as he walked off the bridge. As the Chief Engineer onboard, he usually spent most of his time down in the engine room or tinkering with something to make the ship run faster and better. He too was great at what he did. Shuttle and Cargo bays were part of his domain, and Scotty almost took personal ownership over maintenance and care of the shuttles.

Spock got up and followed Kirk, voicing his obvious disagreement with his decision. "Captain, in spite of your seemingly endless desire to 'stretch your legs', I must remind you that you are still a Starfleet Captain."

Kirk stopped to hear him out. Spock paused, placing his hands behind his back. "This is clearly a job that Mister Scott and a few ensigns can handle."

 _Here we go again,_ he thought _._ He put on his best pleading face, which did not even elicit a raised eyebrow from Spock. "But then I'd miss all the fun."

"Sir…the more prudent choice would be to stay on the _Enterprise_ and wait for a response to our hails."

"Ahh, you're right." Kirk rolled his eyes, then turning back to communications. "Lieutenant Uhura, any response to our hails?"

"None, sir" The communications officer shook her head.

Kirk smiled. "Well, looks like I'm going." He clapped a thoroughly exasperated Spock on the shoulder. The Vulcan just glared as the Captain walked away. _That is precisely what I thought you would say._ As he was about to enter the turbo lift, Kirk paused before heading back toward the Conn.

"Captain."Lieutenant Hikaru Sulu looked up, sitting up a bit straighter.

"Sulu, get suited up, you're taking us over there." Kirk responded sharply.

"Yes sir, I'll meet you in shuttle bay." It almost went without saying that he chose him, given his talent for piloting shuttles. Sulu had been flying them down on almost every away mission since he arrived on board. His intelligence and quick thinking had earned him the right to have that honour, as well as piloting the _Enterprise_ itself.

The Japanese helmsman stayed back one moment to put the ship into auto pilot until another officer, perhaps Chapin or Froman, to relieve him at the controls. Kirk turned to Chekov, inquiring about the strange nature of the interference.

Spock took this opportunity to approach Uhura from behind. He noticed she had intentionally avoided making eye contact with him. Clearly, something was troubling her.

"Lieutenant." He cast a brief glance at her screen before returning his gaze to the back of her head.

"You'll be careful, will you?" she asked, still fully attentive to her comms.

 _A strange question._ "Careful is in my nature, Nyota."

"I know, I know." She sighed. _Always giving me his logical answers._ Her shoulders hunched in annoyance.

"Are our plans for dinner still on?" he asked after a brief silence.

 _Uh-oh._ She remembered his last unsuccessful attempt at preparing a meal for her. It was supposed to be a mixture of fried vegetables. She didn't care for the burnt taste or the heavy spices. "You're not trying to make dinner, are you?"

Spock frowned in confusion. "You said you enjoyed my efforts."

 _Is it just me, or did he sound hurt?_ "Why don't we go to the officer's mess?"

He came around to her right side. "If you do not like my cooking Nyota, you can simply tell me. I will not be offended."

Uhura smiled, shaking her head, and then she turned to look at Spock. Placing a hand on his arm she said, "I like that you are trying to cook dinner for me. We'll talk when you get back." With that, Spock walked back to the turbo lift to where Kirk was already waiting for him.

Kirk pressed a button on the wall panel, shutting the doors with a swish before a brief humming noise indicated their ascent up the shaft. Then the bridge was silent except for the odd noise of bridge cadence or crew chatter. Sulu glanced right to see a very confused Chekov, staring at his panel as if the young Russian was trying to solve an extremely hard math problem.

"Something wrong, Pavel?"

"Something strange here. I am picking up strange energy fluctuations from…beyond those binary stars." As he said this he shared a look with Sulu. Then they both turned to look out the view screen. The two binary stars glowed bright against the black backdrop. To the left, there was a burning hot golden star with flecks of orange in it; on the other side, the icy blue colour of the other star belied its heat. Sulu got up and headed off to shuttle bay, his spot being replaced within seconds by another officer.

"You keep a close eye on that, Pavel." he said, exiting the bridge. He was pretty sure this _wasn't_ a coincidence.

 _It never is on this ship._

 **…**

 _Stardate 2259.32_

 _USS Enterprise – Sickbay_

 _"_ _Chief Medical Officer's log, supplemental. I love the Captain like a brother, I really do, but I wish he'd ask me the next time he decides to go planet side for some R and R. Every time an away team goes out – every time – they bring back some cough or tickle or itch that sneaks by quarantine and ends up in my lap. Bones to the rescue once again. I'm all for exploring new worlds. I just wish it didn't mean filling up my sickbay."_

Doctor Leonard "Bones" McCoy pursed his lips and ran his fingers though his brown hair, brushing a lock of it off his face. Looking around, he saw the familiar sight he had become accustomed to: biobeds were all being used by _Enterprise_ crew suffering the same symptoms. Luckily, _this_ disease was more of a nuisance than life threatening. A mild red rash, followed up by a lovely fit of dry coughing, capped off with a dull muscle ache in affected areas. Doctors and nurses moved from patient to patient treating the infection.

Remarkably, the Captain had avoided getting infection. _For once._

 _Amazing._ The one time he _didn't_ get it, it seemed everyone else did. A few young ensigns from the science division, a couple of commanders and next thing he knew, twenty five people were crowding the bay. Thankfully, the quarantine he put in place was holding.

It was also easy to treat, because McCoy had found a similar virus in his past studies at Starfleet academy. That outbreak had lasted two weeks. He'd gotten this one under control in a matter of hours. He did get the ominous feeling that the next one wasn't going to be easy, whatever it was.

"Simmons, did we get those scans back from Ensign Stuart?"

A doctor in his late twenties wearing a short sleeved white uniform looked up from his PADD. "Yeah. The break wasn't too severe. I got his bone knitted quickly."

"Break? I meant the epidermal infection."

"He tripped running from a swarm of insects and hurt his arm. Nothing serious, though. He took it pretty well. The rash is fading, too." The doctor scooped up a cup of coffee he had waiting on a counter. "All patients have been stabilized."

McCoy strode toward a transparent glass computer display. Tapping on it twice, he brought up the medical records of the infected and updated them. With a swipe of his hand, he scrolled to the next screen, noting the alerts that had come up. He stopped briefly at a scan of an officer's torso, observing the gradual healing of a lacerated side wound he had treated the other week.

"Nurse Kim, send out reports to the rest of the crew. Another round of vaccinations is due up."

The Asian woman behind him smiled and nodded, her long black hair shifting over her shoulder. "I'll get right on it. Oh, and I meant to tell you, you've got to see Ensign Paulsson for a check up later."

"Okay." McCoy mumbled. This was the way he liked things. A little challenge was nice now and then, but an orderly sickbay full of comfortable patients helped him breathe a little easier. He walked over to his console and tapped the comm.

"Cargo bay? This is McCoy. How is it coming on those requisition deliveries?"

 **...**

 _Stardate 2259.32_

 _Frontier Starbase_

 _"_ _Damn their Vulcan ineptitude! Thanks to their incompetence the Helios device is failing. I should have taken full control of the project myself and made it a Starfleet operation from the very beginning. Instead, I'm forced to listen to T'Mar's distress calls begging for help. To make matters worse, the Enterprise is already on its way there. The last thing I need is that boy, Kirk, sticking his nose in things and taking credit for salvaging the Helios device. No doubt he's looking to make himself a hero again. Damn Admiral Pike for giving him the keys to the flagship. All of my work could be for naught."_

Daniels pounded a hand down on his console, shutting off the recorder of his personal log. He huffed and looked down at the display, seeing the repeated signals coming in from the station orbiting the binary stars. In the last hour alone, they'd become more urgent.

If this thing went south, he wasn't going to have any part in it. It was their fault for the accident; they should get out of it, right? Vulcans prided themselves on being smarter and more 'logical'; let's see _that_ get them out of this.

 _This always happens to me, when I'm only trying to get somewhere!_ He exhaled hard and flipped open another alert. It was the requisitions list he had left sitting for a while. He highlighted the entire list with a touch of a finger and denied them all. He was done bothering with the requests. All these stupid things people wanted for no reason. _You're here to work, not to ask for little trinkets and pleasures from home._ This was his Starbase; they'd follow his command, do what he asked them to.

There were times like these he wished he could wash his hands of this whole thing. He shut the screen of and put a hand on his face, rubbing his forehead.

 **...**

 _Stardate 2259.32_

 _USS Enterprise – En route to Shuttle Bay_

He took a deep breath, knowing that any attempt to try to change the Captain's mind would probably fail. But he had to try. "Captain, I must insist – "

A corner of Kirk's mouth curled up, and he raised his eyebrows. "You insist? You know what, Mister Spock? A change of scenery might do you some good." The humming of the turbo lift stopped and the doors yielded with a swish.

 _A change of scenery?_ "Captain?"

"You're coming with me." Ahead of them, Scotty stood overseeing the massive shuttle bay. Just ahead of them were three large consoles, with a man to each of them. All around them was the usual chatter from several crew members in yellow, blue, and mostly red milling about attending to things around the clock. A few were using forklifts and fixing shuttles or other technical components, while others were hard at work running diagnostic tests on the various ship's systems.

Upon their arrival, Scotty turned around, his look of pride changing to that of concern. "Your shuttle's ready Captain, but do you think wise to go yourself? I'm sure me and some recruits could handle this." He said as he gestured over his to any of the redshirts behind him.

Kirk smiled and chuckled. "Don't worry Scotty, we'll be fine."

Scotty shook his head raising his hands slightly. "Always makes me nervous when he says that." Spock met his look with one of almost agreement. He did not care for the Kirk overly optimistic approach to every situation. While the captain was still in ear shot, Spock made a final inquiry.

"Mister Scott, is there no way to transport survivors off that Starbase?"

"I like to think that nothing is impossible, Commander, but with that much interference out there, I wouldn't recommend it."A disappointed expression became one of mild frustration."Stupid place to leave a Starbase, if you ask me."Scott muttered under his breath.

It was only seconds before Scotty had returned his attentions to his engineering crew. Kirk could hear him calling out some poor ensign. "Hey! Which one of you left the phase generator running? Someone could get killed. Do I have to do everything myself?"

Kirk and Spock continued past a few other officers and made a right into a room where they prepped to get on board the shuttle. Kirk glanced at his first officer as the door slid open. "Spock, get suited up."

After quickly getting their lightweight, heat resistant environmental suits on, they ambled out of the room and popped open the shuttle door. It unlocked and rose upward with an electronic whoosh. Three other officers nearby shuffled around talking. They nodded at their superiors when they passed. A red dressed woman worked on recalibrating her instrumentation close by. Being still relatively new at his job as commanding officer, Kirk responded with a friendly smile. He still felt awkward with all the glances he got.

 **…**

Against a vast backdrop of Stars, the small shuttle piloted its way away from the _Enterprise_ toward the stricken Starbase. The immense double star formation made the damaged station appear to be prey about to be devoured whole. Inside the relative safety of the _Enterprise_ shuttle, Sulu, Kirk and Spock rode along, each filled with anticipation on what they would find upon arrival. Kirk's mindset was direct; get in, get the crew, get out. His eyes focused straight ahead.

Kirk pulled out his communicator. He knew this would be the last clear communication he could make for a while. "Uhura, any luck reaching the station?" The comms officers responded hesitantly and strained as she tried to force her way through the white noise in her earpiece to make any link possible.

 _"_ _No sir. They aren't responding to any of our hails, but the station is surrounded by intense radiation. It may be interfering with our communications."_

Spock shifted in his seat beside Sulu, before pulling out his communicator as well. "Mister Chekov, do these energy fluctuations have anything to do with the binary stars?

 _"_ _Maybe commander but…the readings, they don't make any sense. Something is very fishy here."_

Spock raised an eyebrow. "Fishy?" Kirk and Uhura both had looks of amusement as Spock struggled to comprehend yet another human phrase.

Chekov clarified, putting a palm up and leaning his head. _"Earth expression. Strange, Suspicious, Fishy."_

Spock nodded, taking in the new information. "Let us know when you have further information."

 _"_ _Aye sir."_

Spock put away his communicator and returned his attentions to the Starbase. Sulu was more mesmerized by the stars. He had never seen binary stars in person before, only in holographic form. _Quite a site,_ he thought. There was a long pause where nobody said anything before the _Enterprise_ flight control made contact.

" _Enterprise_ shuttle, confirming approach 5x6. Maintain minimal safe distance."

Sulu responded. "Affirmative, _Enterprise_." He clicked off the communication, returning full attention to the blinking red indicators on his screen. Without making eye contact, he addressed his Captain.

"I'm picking up high levels of radiation from two binary stars."

Kirk looked out in confusion. "A normal space station would have been _fried_ by those two stars by now. What the hell are they doing out there?" Spock glanced down at his console, then up at Kirk.

In the co-pilot's chair beside the helmsman, Spock was intently studying the station's physical characteristics. "Captain, the station appears to be outfitted with solar collectors but they are unlike any I have ever encountered." The dome-shaped blue shielding blinked and rippled on the outside of the station, facing the shuttle.

"Mister Sulu, do you have any clue what an experimental power station would be doing out here in the middle of nowhere?"

"Negative, Captain. Whatever they're doing, Starfleet doesn't have any record of it." Bringing the shuttle around a few degrees, Sulu aimed for the closed shuttle bay doors."Preparing for final approach."

Spock was silent for a few seconds. Then, he looked over at the pilot once more. "Mister Sulu, do we know _anything_ more about this station?"

As Sulu had earlier suspected, this was not a coincidence. A blank readout replaced what would usually display relevant transponder frequencies. "Nothing, commander. They're not broadcasting any identifying information. If I didn't know any better, I'd say they didn't want us to know."

Spock pondered this. Perhaps there was more to this than a simple malfunction. "Hmm…most intriguing."

He thought for a moment. Perhaps they should check with Starfleet Command to see if they had any more information than the _Enterprise_ did. Spock returned his gaze to the window lit up the sky behind the station, frowning at the sight of a small flash on the station's hull plating.

 **…**

 _Stardate 2259.32_

 _Helios-1 Station_

The semi-circular door of the station's shuttle bay closed. It was a wide open room, circular in shape with a dome-like room and walls around it. There were several cubic crates of identical size stacked and one shuttle of in the corner. The lighting wasn't as bright as expected, but it was enough to see. Sulu carefully guided the shuttle into the perfect spot with precision. Kirk prepared to get out.

"Keep the engine running, Mister Sulu. I don't think we plan on staying on that thing for too long."

 _"_ _Aye, Captain."_ Sulu replied, still seated in the cockpit.

The door behind them closed in sections. The shuttle powered down and landed on the deck with a loud thump. The door popped open and Kirk and Spock ran out toward the door leading into the Station. Suddenly a large rumble from an explosion somewhere knocked over a bunch of crates and caused them both to stumble. Regaining their balance, the two ran through the circular door that opened in a spiral. When they got inside, a window revealed a small computer room with a large console and a single worker. A low computer voice came over the speakers.

 _"_ _Radiation scan commencing. Please step forward for decontamination."_

They obeyed as a large humming arm with a glowing blue haze passed over and passed them. They ran through to the next room once the door opened. Again, another rounded room with walkways around the edges and a bridge across the middle. Spock called out to a person on the bridge. The crewmember was Vulcan.

"Officer, where is the Captain of this station?"

The Vulcan waved his hand gesturing them to follow. "This way, you must hurry." Suddenly another explosion under the bridge knocked him off his balance. He pitched to one side before falling over the edge of the railing with a yell. The bridge before them the completely gave way and snapped, the two halves folded inward. The Vulcan lay motionless on the bridge another bridge below.

Kirk looked on in horror, and then anger. "Dammit!"

Spock glared at him. "Is this the 'fun' you were afraid you were going to miss…Captain," he asked bitterly.

Kirk ignored his tone, looking around the room with an analytical eye. "Right…We need to get everyone out of here, right away."

"Captain, we must find an alternate route."

It was Kirk's turn to be sarcastic. "Very perceptive, Mister Spock." Kirk held back from saying anything further. The two still disagreed a lot, and that left a good deal of anger between them.

The continued on climbing over toppled crates and boxes until Kirk found a tunnel and they entered. There was only crawling room for the first bit of it. As Kirk got up, he felt the Station rumble again. From his holster, his tricorder chimed. Chekov had news.

 _"_ _Keptin, we're picking up some strange readings. There appears to be some sort of anomaly."_ Because of his Russian accent, his V's sounded like W's, and "Captain" sounded like "Keptin". Kirk knew Chekov from his academy days, so he was used to this by now. It still made him smile, nonetheless. _Usually._

"We kinda have our hands full. Anything we need to worry about?" An explosion just in front of them sent several cargo containers in front of their path. That only left downward.

 _"_ _The readings are off the charts, sir. But I don't think so."_

Though his crewmen's unease was almost always for a very good reason, Kirk continued on. He and Spock didn't have time to stop now. "Just keep an eye on it, Mister Chekov."

 _"_ _Aye aye, sir."_ Firming his resolve, he returned to his work.

Kirk pulled out his tricorder to get a bearing on where he was. He pointed toward a partially open set of doors just up ahead. "Just need to get this door open…" Spock and Kirk grabbed a door each and pried the two open, then went through to see a darkened hall and a large window. Through the glass, a control room was engulfed in flames. Two explosions only worsened the already raging fire inside the room in front of them. Inside, they saw a single Vulcan officer bent over, coughing and choking on the smoke. He stumbled and collapsed before seeing the two through a large rectangular window that separated them.

 _"_ _Open…the…door…"_

Kirk ran toward the door. "He's stuck in there. Let's get him out, quickly!"

Spock followed, taking out his tricorder. "I believe the door can be hacked from this side."

From inside, the Vulcan pleaded with them through the smoke. His eyes began to flicker. _"Please, you must be…quick! My strength is fading…"_

Spock got the door open with urgency and the two rushed inside. The trapped Vulcan filled his lungs with the rush of fresh air that entered the room. He stumbled for a bit before standing up straight. He was still gasping when he looked at his rescuers.

"I am in your debt." Another strained breath entered the Vulcan's chest.

Spock shook his head. "Formalities are unnecessary. Please proceed to the shuttle bay for immediate evacuation." As the Vulcan took off, an explosion shook the Station again, causing the three to stumble. He quickly regained his balance and hurried out.

Spock noticed something off about this station, something that worried him deeply. He pressed his lips together and shut his eyes, considering the possibilities. Thinking about what this could mean. When he looked up, he saw Kirk working on another console.

"Captain…I must mention that many of these crew members appear to be Vulcan."

Kirk was still busy, not looking up from his small tricorder screen. Hearing his first officer's observation did not knock him off stride at all. _So what if there were Vulcans here?_

"Your point?" Kirk said as if Spock had told him the computers were on the left wall instead of the right.

Spock's mouth curved downward. "With fewer than 10,000 Vulcans remaining, I question the logic of placing them on any type of experimental power station."

 _Just Vulcans, Spock?_ "I question the logic of putting _anybody_ on this thing, Vulcan or not." Despite using an angry tone, he knew what Spock meant. The destruction of Vulcan had killed over six billion inhabitants. Those alive had to carry on. He knew the pain that Spock felt for his people, because to a lesser extent, Kirk felt it as well. Everyone who was there that day to see it hurt.

Spock nodded. "Agreed, sir." _It is illogical for anyone to be here._ But it was still odd for Vulcans to be part of a convert operation. They would have broadcasted transponder frequencies. They _wouldn't_ be involved in any criminal or underhanded activities. Seeing as how the Captain already hurried out, Spock broke into a jog down the short, darkened hall.

Through two doors, they found themselves in another large reactor room with a bridge leading to a door. The bridge itself was damaged, creaking and groaning much like the rest of the station. Spock noticed the room was unstable. The energy was building fast. Spock tried to get the Captain's attention.

 _BOOM!_ They both flew to the side. A ball of white energy with three blue beams arcing out of it grew larger and larger beneath the bridge. The sound from it grew larger and larger like a mighty wave. It was almost a low, whining mechanical sound. The power conduits gave way, and a surge of energy exploded upward. The Bridge snapped like a twig, and the halves flew up, launching Kirk and Spock through the air. Kirk landed back on the dangling half and slid down. He hit every bump on the way down.

"AAHH!UNGHHH!" He reached out an arm grasped on for dear life. His hand held him hanging above the raging energy below. He looked down wide- eyed, knowing that if he fell, he would be incinerated in an instant. He swallowed hard and lunged up to grab a piece of the catwalk with his other hand. Spock rammed into the other side of the room on the circular access way around the outside of the reactor room. An out of control laser arm had broken free of its holds and was burning grooves into a wall. Kirk saw over his shoulder it had gotten dangerously close to Spock. Despite its obvious constructive purpose; repairs and cutting metal, the laser would easily cut Spock in two. Kirk hurried to pull himself onto a ledge.

Spock stared at the laser arm as it moved near his head. It must have been at least twenty feet long, emitting a single red beam. One that would surely kill him. A slight twinge of fear rose inside him as he tried to look for a way around the problem.

"Hey Spock, you look like you need a hand!" Kirk yelled as he hauled himself up over the edge.

Spock struggled to reach his communicator, but knew letting go with one hand was too risky. He shouted, "Sir, we need to disable that laser arm!"

It took a few seconds to figure out, but Kirk managed to shut it down with his tricorder. Spock scrambled up the wall before crouching to disable another arm ahead on the access way. It folded up and closed in on itself. Spock climbed up to meet the Captain.

"Captain, the anomaly and the failure of this station are most assuredly connected." Spock said as he got to his feet. His companion shook his head slightly.

"One catastrophe at a time, Mister Spock." Kirk jumped up to grab a flailing metal moving arm and pulled himself up to a higher access way. Spock followed suit. Feeling a bit more comfortable, Spock took a deep breath and helped Kirk open the jammed door ahead of them. Inside, another radiation scan waited, but this one was broken.

 _"_ _Radiation scan comm…step forward for decon…_ " the voice said, breaking up with static intermittently. Yellow lasers shot out from the moving arcs. Kirk stood there, his mouth hanging open slightly. The thought of what _that_ could do to them didn't make him feel any better.

"Hmm…that doesn't sound good."

"Captain, I would _not_ advise stepping into that scanner." Spock tried and failed to hold back his Captain with and arm. Kirk crouched and stared moving slowly ahead, ducking below the pillars of light that buzzed over his head. "No other way around, Spock," he grumbled.

When they had made their way safely through, two sets of doors slid open to reveal the command center. Kirk breathed a sigh of relief. He thought they'd never get there.

Several Vulcans in grey and black jacketed uniforms were at work at their stations, with little signs of panic despite the disaster that was lurking just outside the panoramic window. The console clusters, as Spock knew, were access points for engineer's admittance to various systems to quickly respond to any problems that should arise. They also were supposed to make it easier for the crew, by providing several stations rather than one for all to work with.

A casual observer wouldn't be able to detect the undercurrent of fear beneath their otherwise calm exterior, but Kirk had been around Spock long enough to recognize the signs.

 _I'll never understand how they do that ._ Kirk shook his head and continued.

In the center of the room a glowing blue holographic engineering schematic of the station hovered. They picked out the one man who seemed to be in charge, standing by the window. He had a gotee, with touches of grey showing in his beard.

"I'm Captain James Kirk of the USS _Enterprise_. We have a shuttle ready for your evacuation."

The Vulcan showed angst and frustration on his face. He was definitely worried about something or someone."While we appreciate your assistance, _our_ captain and many of our top scientists are trapped in the transported room on the other side of this station. We cannot simply abandon them."

He was right, and Kirk knew it. He'd do the same in his position. "Any suggestions, Mister Spock?"

"If we were able to reach them, Mister Scott may then be able to obtain a manual lock on our positions."

"I am afraid that may prove impossible. All interior passages are blocked." the Vulcan commander, maintaining his firm stance.

"Will the suits hold up out there?" Kirk was eager to find a way. For him, there was _never_ an impossible task.

The Vulcan seemed impressed with his determination, but still alarmed. "With the solar shield failing, direct exposure would mean certain death."

"Well, I hate certain death," Kirk shifted his glance from the commander to Spock. "Spock, let's try to avoid direct exposure." As he said that, Kirk noticed the two large metallic doors met in the center of the large window. A circular lock in the middle secured the doors. Things were definitely getting bad outside if they felt they had to secure all potential exits.

"Captain, I will offer whatever assistance I can over your communicator. But again, I fear these efforts…"

Kirk grimaced. "Yeah yeah. We get it. Certain death. Any other words of advice?"

The commander thought for a moment. "Try to live long and prosper."

Spock and Kirk exited the room quickly via a turbo lift. It shut with a pneumatic swish, sending them up to the upper level. Both their hearts raced from the adrenaline coursing through their veins. This was the kind of his stakes, high energy mission Kirk loved. Not, however, when it involved disaster. Spock worried for the Vulcans still trapped. He knew he had to save them. This time he would.

 **…**

"We should engage mag boots now, sir." Spock made sure his helmet was secured tightly. The droning of the alert siren rang repeatedly in the distance. As the doors unlocked and opened, they revealed a blinding light. They stepped behind either side of the open doorway. A room depressurized as they exited. Vision returning first, Spock did not waste time assessing the main problem.

"The solar collector is failing. We must avoid direct exposure."

Kirk winced, feeling the room's temperature climb. "That suit is going to melt off your back, get into cover Spock." As soon as they collector restored itself, they ran out toward cover.

"Captain, we _must_ stay in cover until it regenerates."

The shield failed with descending buzz-like noises, and heat and flames shot past them. Debris flaked off the station and flew by, careening out into space.

"Got it. Wait for it…" The shield filled in with an ascending buzzing noise. Kirk looked up. "Go now!"

They jumped into cover just in time before the next burst came. Kirk could feel the temperature rising even with his suit on. "It's getting hot out here."

"I am uncertain how much more exposure our suits can handle." Spock replied, he too feeling the scorching heat that raged by just overhead. They timed their movements, knowing one wrong one could mean death, and a painful one at that. From cover to cover, around corners of the many pathways meant for maintenance on the station's exterior. Kirk's heart pounded out of his chest. Perspiration formed all over him. He scrambled, his mind racing to find spots to hide, and still get closer to the next door at the same time.

"Whose idea was this anyway?" A frustrated Kirk asked, cringing as another blast of flames shot overhead. Back up against the barrier, Spock ducked his head into his shoulder.

"I believe it was yours, sir."

 _Awkward._ "Right." Kirk saw the door and knew he had to go fast between collapses. He waited for the shield to turn blue, then leapt out from his crouching position and tore down the way, around a corner and down a ramp. The next burst of energy from the sun punctured the weak shield, but not before Kirk and Spock got below deck at the locked door. They pried it open, quickly got in and shut it just as a deep another burst stripped a large chunk of shrapnel off the hull. The sound from outside was immediately deafened as the doors slammed together. This allowed time for both officers time to catch their breath.

 _Perhaps I should exercise more frequently._ Spock thought as he pressed a hand against the wall. After a brief moment they pressed on.

 **…**

Spock and Kirk looked out over the expanse. A metal claw seemed to hold a blue beam that shot down the middle of the core. Multiple giant turning rings rotated around this beam. They turned around with large metallic cranking sounds but couldn't drown out the rumbles from outside. Before them was only a twisting walkway the extended out toward the rings.

Spock pulled his communicator out. "Lieutenant, we have reached the station's core. We seek whatever further assistance you can provide."

The commander's voice responded over the communicator. _"The only way forward is to shut down the core's rings. To do this you'll need to work together. One of you must scan the control console to stop the ring. This will allow the other person to engage the locking mechanism. Commander, I must warn you...a manual shut down under these circumstances is highly risky."_

"Gotcha!" Kirk cut him off and shut his communicator. "We should split up." He ran down the winding walkways until he got to the first ring. Using his tricorder, he could see the outline of the locking mechanism in the ceiling of the ring. _That's the locking mechanism,_ he thought. _If Spock can slow down the ring long enough, I can shoot it._

Spock scanned the console and stopped it. It ground to a halt and beeped. The lock became exposed. He raised his phaser and fired it. The lock engaged and locked the ring. A corridor lowered and Kirk and Spock ran across it, then split off into opposite directions to find the next ring.

"Success, Captain. We must repeat the manoeuvre for the remaining rings." Kirk and Spock ran around scanning frantically, as time was not on their side. Finally, Kirk found the second console and scanned it to release the second ring's lock.

"Spock, shoot the lock!" A moment later, he heard a blast from Spock's phaser, and the second ring locked, dropping down another corridor. "Another one down…just one more to go." He was actually starting to have a little fun with this, but he shrugged aside all thoughts of that for now. Lives were on the line. He had to stay focused.

Another explosion sent heat and wind blowing through the core. _The solar shield,_ Spock thought as he barely missed getting struck by a blast of fire. Kirk scrambled for cover just beside the Vulcan.

"This place is falling apart!"

Spock tried to calm him. "Stay in cover until it regenerates."

 _No kidding, Spock? I never would have guessed._ What really bugged Kirk about Spock's statements was that many just went without saying. In haste, the two officers made their way around the ring, ducking down every 15 seconds to avoid exposure to the star's heat. As Kirk stooped down, he squeezed his eyes shut and listened to the flames over head. It sounded like rushing wind, but the exposure for more than a few seconds meant death.

When the flames died out temporarily, Spock ran to another cover and starting scanning the ceiling. His tricorder was almost useless with all the interference and radiation coming off of the two stars. As he turned to his left, he saw Kirk crouch down seconds too late to avoid the blast. The captain hunched down behind the wall-like structure holding his arm. The blasting waves of heat roared by, drowning out any sound Kirk made in his anguish. The pain seared for a moment, causing the Captain to bite down and moan. Finally it started to fade, leaving a dull ache. He gestured to his worried partner that he was well, and waved him off to keep moving.

Continuing the procedure with the third core, Kirk yelled for Spock to shoot the lock, and it engaged as well. They crossed the third small bridge-like corridor and ran for a door that led hopefully led back into the relative safety of the stations interior.

"That worked, let's keep moving." Kirk ran ahead of Spock down the bending glass walkway, one just like the others had been. They made it to the door, pried it open and went through. "We're through the core, let's find that stranded crew." The inside was only a stop-over before the next door that led inside.

Kirk felt his feet tiring with each step. Ahead, the solar shield wavered between on and off. There was nothing between them and the door sixty feet ahead, except for the only means of cover right beside them; a couple of nondescript square pieces of Plexiglas jutting out for the floor. They sought shelter against them. Kirk grimaced as they sat opposite each other.

"Great, no cover." This was going from bad to worse.

Spock looked out at the familiar patterns of Vulcan architecture of the deck ahead. Through the whooshing sound or debris and heat going by he said, "I believe we may be able to open those vents. Perhaps our phasers will work."

Kirk's mood brightened. "Worth a shot." He got up and fired at the first vent. It shot up out of the deck. _Instant cover._ "It works! Keep shooting out those vents." Kirk ducked behind the vent and shot another. It went up. Spock fired. Another rose. Kirk aimed again. Just as he ran for it, the vent exploded.

"AHH! Watch out!" He would have been right there. Fear made his heart jump as he stumbled back behind another opened vent.

"Captain, not all of these vents are stable."

 _Great, another thing to worry about. 'Death by vent.'_ They swiftly ran from vent to vent, avoiding unstable ones. Hurtling toward the door. As Kirk stepped up next to it and prepared to open it, Spock put an arm across his chest.

"Captain, wait." Spock knelt down to the floor. Kirk bent over, putting his hands on his knees. He saw a Vulcan in a red and grey environmental suit lying near the door. Spock gently placed a hand under her head and lifted it slightly. The woman opened her eyes and squinted at them. Spock turned around quickly. "This one is still alive." He picked her up. Kirk hurried to open the door.

"Quick. Let's get 'em inside."

When they got in, several Vulcan lay on the floor, others tending to them. The small room contained a large console just before a panoramic screen facing the binary stars. A science officer spoke up, tending to his controls.

"Captain, life support is now at four percent and failing. Transporter is still unable to obtain a reliable signal."

Spock lowered the injured Vulcan woman gently to the floor to be attended to, while Kirk strode to the main console. "Let ME worry about the transporter. Just get your people ready to beam out." Kirk began to look at the console, when he noticed the Vulcan hadn't moved from his spot. He was still working on his console.

"What are you waiting for?"

Sepak addressed Kirk. "I was speaking to MY captain."

T'Mar got up from looking after another crew member to talk to him. "It's all right, Commander. Do as he says."

"Aye, Captain." Sepak and the others helped the injured to their feet and down toward the transporter bay. Kirk looked up to see a beautiful Vulcan woman with shoulder length black hair. Kirk couldn't resist making small talk. They had time.

"Huh, Captain? I don't believe we've met. I'm James Kirk, Captain of the USS _Enterprise_. And you are?" He grinned and put on his best flirty face.

 _Another inappropriate attempt at flirtation from a human male._ Not the first she had experienced, either. She did not turn to look at him. He was so obvious in his goal, it almost amused her. She considered her response."I am…in need of assistance, Captain."

Spock recognized her voice. The same voice he had heard years ago, on Vulcan. "T'Mar?" He turned around, in disbelieving of the odds they would meet here.

"Mister Spock? It is a relief to see you here." Lines around her mouth and eyes relaxed. It was good to see a friend she knew who was here to help.

"T'Mar, in what way can we assist you?"

"Our station has experienced a complete loss of power. Our transporter functions are also unreliable. There does not appear to be a safe way to beam out."

Kirk looked her in the eye. "There's ALWAYS a way." He clicked his communicator. "Scotty? Think you can get a lock on me?"

Scotty responded wearily. _"I'll try, sir."_ Just then a rumble sent the three tumbling sideways onto the floor. Spock fell onto the console. Sparks fell from the ceiling.

 _"_ _What's going on down there, Captain?"_ Scotty's worry was obvious.

Kirk nodded at T'mar. "That was a wake-up call, Mister Scott. I need you to work a little faster." Scotty was going as fast as he could. That station wasn't going to hold much longer.

 _"_ _On it, sir!"_

T'Mar broke into a run. "We should make our way to the transporter, Captain."

"After you." He gestured, extending a hand forward. T'Mar ran ahead, her footsteps adding as she got farther away. Kirk smiled a little and looked toward Spock. "So…how do you two know each other?"

Spock responded matter-of-factly. "We were classmates back on Vulcan."

Kirk's interest rose, as did an eyebrow and a corner of his mouth. "Just classmates?" He acknowledged, though it was obvious he thought that there was more to it then Spock was letting on.

Spock glanced up at Kirk, who was regarding him with amusement. "I realize this may be difficult for you to understand, Captain, but on Vulcan, relationships between the sexes do not automatically imply an intimate past."

 _If that were true for anyone it would be for you guys._ Kirk found himself smiling at Spock's quick explanation of Vulcan relationships. "Another reason I'm glad I'm not a Vulcan."

On the _Enterprise_ , Scotty intently studied his transporter station. The rings on the screen surrounded the silhouettes of the trapped crew. He pressed his communicator. _"I've got manual lock, Captain. Ready and waiting for transport."_

Kirk turned smugly to look at T'Mar. "See? There's always a way." He waited. "After you, Captain."

 _Not yet._ She couldn't leave first. "I will not leave this vessel until my crew is safely out of danger." She glanced away out a window in order to not meet his gaze. "As a Captain yourself, I'm sure you would do the same." Though her face said otherwise. She couldn't be sure.

Kirk was amazed. That _is_ what he would've done. He whispered to Spock, though loud enough for her to hear. "I like this one."

Spock glanced toward the floor. "There are few you do not like, Captain." He could see the Vulcan crew assembling on the transporter pad. "Prepare to energize." He nodded. The injured Vulcan female lifted her head in response. "Thank you." A golden swirl appeared around them.

A loud rumble rippled through the station. The gravity switched, throwing everyone in the room toward the wall. The windows fractured, and then shattered as explosions occurred all around them from deep in the station's hull. The Vulcans on the transporter pad fell with another dramatic gravitational flux, desperately grabbing on to the pad or any immoveable object before being sucked out into the dark unforgiving maw of space, the whole while becoming harder and harder to see in light. Spock, Kirk, and T'Mar all gripped tightly onto the railing around the transporter, but could not resist the pull of the atmosphere being sucked into the cold vacuum of space.

They tumbled and kicked. Kirk struggled to reach his boots. T'Mar touched hers first, triggering a single point light to come on. With a buzz they activated. Spock and Kirk did the same, straining to reach their feet while floating. In seconds, they all fell back down onto their feet with a thump onto a solid part of the deck. Kirk placed a hand down to steady himself. The mag boots held them on the outer hull, though that method of survival would only temporarily work. Behind them, the station began to rupture. The hull they were on split and cracked under huge amounts of pressure. Fire and electricity shot out of holes forming everywhere. The explosions were cascading across the center of the station, each one tossing debris and shrapnel into the air. _Sharp projectiles_. T'Mar urged them ahead.

"The station is not going to hold."

"We gotta get back to the shuttle. RUN!" Kirk shouted as an explosion sent metal flying by him. They swerved to the left, to the right. Blasts kept blocking their way. Kirk could feel his heart racing out of his chest. He was behind, and the blowouts were getting closer to him. "Keep moving!"

Spock yelled without turning around. "I do not think this station is salvageable, Captain." His voice like the others was slightly tiny from the inside of their helmets. Kirk couldn't stop, but was knocked off balance with disbelief.

"You think so?" He shot back at Spock. _Not the time for that now!_ They tore down the main section of the hull. Another explosion sent a jet of blue flames in the air. They all veered right. Another explosion sent them left. Debris and sparks flew past them. Spock ducked to avoid a bar flying overhead.

The panic was getting to Spock. "There is no time to stop!" he shouted. As obvious as that recommendation was, he had the need to say it anyways. Down another glass pathway, left a meter, down another railed pathway. The Vulcan's superior strength and speed did not keep Kirk from keeping pace with him.

"No time to watch the sunset, run!" Kirk ignored his own order even as he was giving it. Terror washed across his face as he saw fire and metal flying at him. The station was literally falling towards the sun; it was as if the giant ball of fire was consuming it. An ear-splitting crack sound ran out as the outer hull split and broke apart. Several explosions rippled under his feet.

The temperature started to rise in Kirk's suit. He could feel adrenaline coursing through his veins, giving him energy, even though his muscles and lungs screamed at him to stop. His legs were pumping harder than he ever had before.

The three made a left, down a ramp, and along the final stretch to a door. If they couldn't open that and keep running, they would be consumed in the flames. Despite possessing Vulcan strength, Spock and T'Mar fought to pump weakening legs. Kirk could see the door, and pulled ahead of Spock. He raced, each breath requiring more effort to fill his lungs than the last. Feeling the ground shake beneath him, he raised his head to look.

The sound of the shuttle overhead brought on a wash of relief. _God bless you, Mister Sulu!_ Kirk watched as Spock raced by him, he too feeling a surge of energy and new found hope. T'Mar had since fallen behind the two of them.

Spock leapt up toward the open door on the shuttle's bottom. He reached down and yanked Kirk up. Kirk immediately let down an arm and grabbed T'Mar, flinging her up into the shuttle. Sulu looked back at Kirk.

 _"_ _Shut it! Shut the door!"_ Kirk yelled, wild eyed. As it locked, he removed his helmet and lay on the floor, heaving and gasping for air. There was a brief rattle on the outside. Sulu veered the shuttle up hard away for the station, jabbing at the thruster controls, putting the shuttle into full impulse speed. T'Mar and Spock looked back at the station. Two large explosions split it down the middle and then again. Fire consumed it. A final explosion blew the station apart, sending a shockwave that hit the shuttles rear. The right nacelle ignited and knocked out, sending the shuttle rear pitching to the side.

All the passengers jerked forward. The helmsman held onto his controls tightly with both hands, squinting and straining against the jostling craft's momentum.

"Bringing us back in! Hang on!"


	4. Chapter 4

_Chapter 2_

 _Stardate 2259.32_

 _Shuttle Craft 12408_

Sulu could see the doors before them. He just had to aim right. If is succeeded, they were safe. If not, they would make a hole in the back of the ship. His brow furrowed as he steadied the shuttle out.

"The left nacelle is emitting plasma. The right is almost offline." He reached across the console to help try and tilt the craft left to compensate. Kirk steadied himself, trying to collect his bearings and the strength to stand up. He breathed heavily. "Contact…. _Enterprise_."

"I can't, sir! If I let go…" Sulu cut off and steered the shuttle right. The doors opened quickly. Spock got up after treating T'Mar. He pulled out his communicator. It beeped twice. " _Enterprise_ , come in."

Uhura's voice. Her voice sounded apprehensive. _"Spock?"_

"I'm fine, Lieutenant." He responded, not totally professionally, but with feeling. His next request was totally professional."Patch me through to transporter bay, I need to speak with Mister Scott."

 _"_ _All right."_ Her voice trembled, but her smile could be heard.

A pause. _"Scott here, sir. Are you okay?"_

"We are fine. Did you get the Vulcan scientists?" Spock anticipated the response. _They were almost certainly lost._ Regardless, Spock asked anyways.

 _"_ _We got them sir! The whole lot!"_ Scott slumped back in his chair and slid the sweaty heads-up device off his face." _Another shuttle, a Vulcan one, came here, full of survivors as well. We've been on pins and needles waiting for you guys to get back."_ The shuttle was filled with the sounds of groaning passengers and at the same time sighs of relief. Kirk felt a wave of guilt. He almost cost everyone their lives. _If I had skipped the talk and just beamed out directly..._

The shuttle shot through the opening bay doors. Sulu disengaged the engines and powered down. It was not enough to stop the shuttle's forward momentum. It slid along the floor, sending people diving out of the way for their lives. Sparks flew everywhere as the damaged craft grinded sideways along the metallic deck, turning before smashing into a large console, coming to an abrupt stop with a loud bang.

The rear door hatch flew open. Kirk and T'Mar stumbled out on the deck, but neither could keep their balance. Spock tumbled to the side. T'Mar landed on Kirk hard with a thud. He let out a groan.

T'Mar pushed herself up, the two of them gasping as she looked down at his face, inches away from hers. She studied his face, he studied hers. Their eyes met briefly. Hot breath rushed past T'Mar's neck. She shoved herself up from the Captain's prone form and brushed her suit off. Turning back to Kirk, she asked, "Are you all right, Captain?"

If he was still thinking about almost dying on the Helios station before, he was certainly not now. Instead he considered the beautiful Vulcan woman standing over him.

The Captain lay there on his side, looking up at her with mild and slightly flirty amusement. He smiled. "I'm _definitely_ better now, thanks." He was quite enjoying this view. Behind her, other Vulcans made their way gingerly off the shuttle. Looking much relieved to be on board, they accepted assistance from med staff and security officers.

The sound of Chekov's voice snapped Kirk back to reality. His young face looked anxious on a screen in front of them. _"Keptin, we have a problem!"_

Kirk got to his feet, a grimace on his face. "Ugh, another one?" _Haven't we been through enough already?_

Spock walked forward, hands behind his back. "What is it, Mister Chekov?"

Chekov looked down with worry and confusion at his readings. _"I…I think you need to see for yourself."_

Kirk and Spock shared a look of concern. The former took a breath, putting his hands on his hips. _Another disaster, coming right up._

 **…**

A lift took T'Mar, Spock and Kirk up from the main level to the next higher one. They had been checked over by doctors and given the chance to change into their regular clothes. Spock and Kirk had their usual blue and gold sweaters respectively, for science and command. T'Mar wore a black and white shirt with black pants and boots. The sleeves on her shirt stretched down to her hands and covered her palms, leaving her fingers free.

Spock had questions for T'Mar, many questions. "T'Mar, a simple solar flare should not have caused the loss of power to your station. Do you know the origin of your vessel's malfunction?" The lift stopped, and the rail dropped to allow them to proceed.

"It did _not_ malfunction."T'Mar was resolute in her response.

Kirk gave her a questioning look. "Uh…didn't appear that way to us."

"That station was used to harness the energy from the binary stars. However, all of the station's primary controls were operated from a base located on a nearby planet."

Kirk was intrigued. Perhaps someone down there did this. "What planet?"

"We are calling it New Vulcan." Spock's face lit up with wonder. _New Vulcan? The colony…_

"So it is true," he replied, though his eyes focused on nothing in particular. He had heard that Spock Prime, his older self, had located a planet suitable for a New Colony, but hadn't heard that it was already built. He remembered what else he had said.

 _Spock, in this case, do yourself a favour. Put aside logic. Do what feels right._

He had told him to stay in Starfleet. To stay with Kirk, as his first officer. He had told him to feel. He had done that. The elder Spock was to help rebuild the colony. Spock did not know what had become of the colony since their discussion.

They entered a small computer room where T'Mar brought up a simulation of the Helios Station. Kirk glanced out the window to observe several crew members walking about.

T'Mar brought up a holographic display of a ship. "Spock, as you know, after the destruction of Vulcan, we have been searching for a suitable planet to rebuild our race. New Vulcan seemed perfect. However, a project of this magnitude would have taken generations to complete. In order to speed up this process we created a device called the Helios machine."

Kirk and Spock watched as the simulation went through the station layer by layer until it got to the core. There, a hexagonal shaped object spun. It had circle on its sides. Spock analysed the readouts.

"Your station was to harness the energy from the binary stars to power the Helios machine located on New Vulcan." The simulation zoomed out to show a sphere representing the planet, then moved left to show two other spheres, their shape drawn out with dots. The Helios station showed up in light blue. T'Mar continued.

"Precisely. Two days ago, and for some unknown reason, the power to our station was shut off. Without power, our station could not withstand the gravitational pull of the stars." The core went red, and the station's colour changed from teal, to green, to yellow to orange and finally went red. The simulation beeped as it died, and then shut off.

Kirk shrugged his shoulders and tilted his head to the side to stretch his neck. His confusion grew. A Vulcan causing this disaster? _That_ would be very illogical. "What moron would shut down the machine if they knew this would happen?"

T'Mar glared at Kirk. "That _moron_ would be Surok."

Kirk was unfazed. "Never heard of him." He still didn't understand what the sharp comeback was for. Was it a Vulcan thing to stick up for each other?

Spock could sense the slight anger from T'Mar. Calmly, he explained to the Captain; "Surok is T'Mar's _father_ , and a great mentor to _myself_ and the Vulcan people."

 _Oh, great._ He had just insulted a great man, _and_ them both. He suddenly felt very awkward under the watchful eyes of two displeased Vulcans. Not knowing what else to say, he looked back to T'Mar. "Ah…sorry?"

 _Nicely done, James Kirk._ His face went pink. Quickly he left the room, and T'Mar and Spock proceeded behind him.

Unable to contain his curiosity any longer, Spock couldn't help but ask T'Mar about it. "Why would Surok shut down power to your station? He must have been aware that doing so would be catastrophic for you and your crew." Spock's voice showed concern and worry. He had looked up to Surok since he was young, and had the utmost respect for him. He could not have been negligent with a task this important.

"Unfortunately the Helios machine may have caused an anomaly." T'Mar said hesitantly.

 _Terrific,_ Kirk thought sarcastically. "An anomaly. This just keeps getting better. We need to get to the bridge."

They jogged down the deck toward the turbo lift and walked in. The doors shut behind them as Kirk set their destination as the bridge. There was a silence, one Kirk wanted to fill with a better apology. Despite everything he could come up with, from wit to pleading, he said nothing. T'Mar and Spock were both preoccupied with thoughts about the colony, no doubt. When the doors finally slid open, the three strode through, each ready to pursue their own lines of inquiry. Chekov turned around in his chair to announce the Captain's entrance, but Kirk cut him off.

"Mister Chekov, tell me something." His look shifted briefly from his navigator to the viewscreen. In a sea of stars, he saw the massive anomaly, and the tranquil orange planet spinning off to the side he now knew was the New Vulcan colony.

Chekov laid out a hand toward his console and looked at the results of the scans. "It is highly unusual, sir. But I believe it's some kind of rip in the actual fabric of space."

Kirk leaned on a rail behind the command chair. He tilted his head to the side. "Like a wormhole?" He squinted in perplexity.

Chekov nodded. " _Something_ like that, sir. It appears to be a shortcut through space." He waved a hand toward the console's screen.

Coming over to him, Spock asked in a firm voice, "Where does it lead?"

"There is no way to know for sure, commander."

"I believe that rip is the reason my father ordered the Helios Machine to be shut down." T'Mar glanced away from Kirk's face. Her concern for the situation deepened. Kirk noticed something odd, as if she was feeling more than worry.

"Then we need to talk to him right away. Lieutenant Uhura, hail New Vulcan." His gaze temporarily went toward the viewscreen, contemplating the rip before returning his hopeful glance to his communications officer.

Uhura nodded, and got to work. "Aye, Captain."First she would try a general call on all frequencies.

"It is no use, Captain. We lost communication with them when the Helios Machine was shut down." This was going from bad to worse. What if something bad happened to them down there? _Something to do with the machine's failure?_

"Keptin, scans indicate the rip is contracting. At the current rate it will be gone in approximately 12 hours." Spock looked on it fascination at the pale orange and red waves emanating from a brilliant center of white light.

Kirk put his hands on his hips, his face expressing slight relief. "Good. The fewer "anomalies" we have to deal with, the better."

"Captain – no response to our hails."Uhura said, shaking her head and pressing the earpiece in. What was worse was that there was nothing at all. The comms on the planet were dead, all channels and frequencies.

Kirk looked down, his lips pursed. He paused for a moment in brief thought, considering his options. They had no choice but to investigate. It was obvious something went wrong. The Vulcans down there needed help, and fast.

"Mister Sulu, bring us within range of New Vulcan. We're going down there." The latter sentence he directed at T'Mar. She acknowledged and followed him. Spock stayed back a moment.

Kirk stopped, turning on a heel and walking briskly toward Sulu. Before he could speak up, the helmsman met his Captain's gaze.

"You had us pretty nervous back there, sir. Wasn't sure if you guys were gonna make it."

Kirk laughed, not making any attempt to suppress a broad smile. "Haha. Nice flying Sulu."

"Thank you, sir." He returned the smile of his own.

"Sulu, when were done here, you owe me a rematch." Kirk said in a lowered voice as not to be heard by T'Mar behind him.

"Your fencing's getting better sir. You almost made contact last time." Sulu smirked without looking up, pretending to be fixated on the main monitor at the front of the bridge.

Kirk shook his head, still amused. He'd let _that_ one go. Surprisingly, he had forgotten what he was going to ask. It didn't matter now. He had to focus on the Vulcans.

 **…**

Spock looked slightly awkward as he addressed Uhura a second time. "I may have to cancel our dinner plans."

 _Good idea._ Food was far from her mind after what had happened. One nagging question bothered her, but at a time like this, she was reluctant to voice it. _Still..._ "So this T'Mar...she a friend of yours?" The lieutenant bit her lip, her voice having a suspicious edge to it.

"We went to school together on Vulcan. As a child, many of my peers resented my human side. T'Mar did not."

"I see. So…you and T'Mar…"

"I can assure you that our relationship was strictly platonic," he reassured her.

"I didn't mean…" What had she meant? _I've blown it this time._ She tried to think of the right thing to say next.

"No offence taken. I would be more willing to talk about my past with you at a later time." With that he walked toward the turbo lift. Uhura's jaw hung open, but nothing came out.

Uhura clenched a fist, angry with herself. He was always so distant, but when they did talk, she got carried away with emotion and didn't allow him to speak. She finally got him to talk about his past and the first thing she did was throw up wild accusations, about _Spock_ no less. He _did_ say he wanted to talk later, but she didn't know just how much later he meant. Perhaps never.

All she knew was that this whole situation must be difficult for Spock, since Vulcans were in danger. She wondered how much more Spock could take. Sighing, she returned to her work. _Please let this not be so serious. I know he's proven himself time and again...but everybody's got a breaking point. This may be his._

 **…**

Kirk tapped the wall console inside the lift. As soon as the door closed, Spock immediately resumed his conversation with Kirk. "I must request permission to join you, Captain."

Kirk had been waiting for this chance. "Spock, are you sure that's within protocol? Maybe we should just send Scotty and some recruits," he said sarcastically. Kirk looked at Spock and T'Mar, who were both taken aback by this. T'Mar was first to answer.

"Captain, I hope the importance of New Vulcan is not lost on you. Our people cannot afford another tragedy. This planet is the best hope for our race to prosper." Her voice changed from scolding Kirk to almost a plea to him. Even through her Vulcan calm he could hear deep emotion. It wasn't like he didn't know what happened. He did care about the Vulcans, feel for their grief. Watching them lose their planet, Spock his own mother. It was a tragic day for everyone who witnessed the massacre.

Kirk responded quickly. "Noted." Spock was next to input his opinion, declaring it with much conviction.

"Then you should also note that having a Vulcan as a member of your away team would be essential to the success of this mission."

"And _I_ am the only one on this ship that has ever been on the surface of New Vulcan or has experience with the Helios Machine."T'Mar added. To Kirk's great comfort, the turbo lift doors slid open. He had had all he could take.

"All right, all right, all right! Great…Now there's two of you guys driving me nuts." Overtaking both of them, he hurried down the hallway toward a small corridor room. Through the doors to the transporter room. Scotty was at the controls instead of the usual transporter chief. He turned around to greet them with a serious expression.

"Transport ready, Captain."

Kirk tilted his head up as an acknowledgement. "My phaser, Mister Scott?"

Scotty picked up the phaser and waved it back and forth, checking each side as he talked. "I've put some wee modifications on it just like you asked but I've been working on some other options too." He backed up towards a blue wall console behind him with several readouts. To his left and right were racks of weapons. He proudly showed off his new creations."I've got phase cannons, photon disrupters, and wait 'til I show you these plasma rifles. Still working out a few things –"

 _Hmm, interesting._ Kirk thought for a moment, observing the rifles. About two and a half feet long, sleek, and primarily white with gray designs on the side. _Still, I'd rather go with tried and true on this._ "My phaser will do, Mister Scott."

Scotty continued nonetheless. "I guess you don't want to hear about the stasis grenades then. Nasty little buggers. But if you want your phaser, here's your phaser." Scotty was always tinkering with things. He was a technical genius, coming up with new and improved versions of almost everything he got his hands on. Kirk appreciated the dedication. In his opinion, there wasn't a better engineer in Starfleet.

Holstering the wide barrelled, pistol-like phaser, Kirk walked up the steps onto the transporter with Spock and T'Mar. Scotty sat back down at the controls, viewing the three officers through the protective glass.

Kirk glanced over his shoulder to Spock, who nodded in confirmation. The captain lifted his head toward Scotty to get his attention.

"Energize." There was a rising humming sound as Scotty moved his hand up the transporter controls.

Kirk felt a tugging on his stomach as his particles began disassembling. The group disappeared into a swirl of light.

 **…**

 _Stardate 2259.32_

 _New Vulcan Surface_

The three materialized down on the brown Vulcan planet. Wind whipped around the dusty ground they landed in. Kirk looked around. On their left a giant reddish-brown rock formation towered over them. It was layered and worn. Behind them, large ridges and rock formations jutted out like blades toward the ocean on their right. Waves crashed along the shore. There were several carnivorous birds gliding about on the breeze. They were black with long beaks. Kirk scanned some idly with his tricorder. _Not that dissimilar to pterodactyls._ One had a piece of fish in its mouth. Others squawked and rode the air currents coming in with the waves.

A single path led up an incline to a tall facility of some sort. There were small, round cactus-like plant clusters and tall, dry grasses along the way. _That must be the place._ They set off down the trail. After some walking, they were still quite a distance from the door.

"Any further out and I'd be back in Iowa, Mister Scott."

 _"_ _Sorry, sir. Too much interference. I had to drop you outside."_ The rush of the wind and the sound of the waves made it seem very peaceful. Kirk would've enjoyed it if it weren't a potentially dangerous mission they were on. He shared a look with Spock. Clearly, the same thing had occurred to him as well. A colony under construction shouldn't be this peaceful. It should be alive with the sound of machinery and people.

"Kinda quiet around here. Is that normal, T'Mar?"Kirk's voice sounded loud even to him. Across the bay, another bird called out, though it could've been right overhead.

"Negative, Captain." They broke into a run, heading toward the building's entrance on the right. Several birds flew off the circular metallic pad in front. Two black boxes were on either side of the door. The round building curved outward, with several crisscrossed supports.

As they got up to the pad, they noticed a green puddle of liquid on the ground. It looked like blood. _Is that...Vulcan blood?_ Kirk grimaced, and Spock pulled out his phaser. The circular door ahead was illuminated red along its border. They were locked out.

T'Mar noticed and checked her tricorder. Almost immediately, she knew what was wrong. "For some reason the highest security protocols have been enabled on this door."

"Can we hack it?" Kirk asked T'Mar. This wasn't going to be easy; Vulcan encryption was known for consisting of multiple layers. Bad enough that it was based on another language; the mathematics involved made Kirk's head spin.

"Possibly, but you will have to work together to beat the encryption."

Kirk and Spock hurried to the panels on either side of the door. They used their tricorders to get into the security. It wasn't a code as Kirk thought.

"This lock can be opened if we are able to transmit the right signal to the lock itself." Spock intently worked on the signal. Kirk tried to focus it precisely at the mechanism. An ingenious way of locking a door, he thought, though a pain to open. As he focused it, the lock slowly opened. Finally, the screen read OVERRIDE SUCESSFUL. The door unlocked and slid open.

As they got inside, it was obvious some confrontation happened. Smoke had settled at the ceiling. Broken glass was on the floor from several broken pains. The floor itself was glass, and it too was broken in some places. Sparks rained down from a circular light fixture, onto a curved console below it. More shot out from damaged consoles. Spock regarded this with confusion.

"Captain, the systems seem to have been purposely shut down."

"I can provide assistance." T'Mar walked quickly past Spock toward the familiar central controls.

Kirk looked around, trying not to get caught with sparks. "T'Mar, can you operate all the systems from here?"

"Yes, I helped to build and design…" Suddenly a thought occurred to her. Mild frustration distorted her face. "Captain, if you are implying that I should stay behind-" She tapped the consoles and unlocked them. Readouts and displays came to life. Holographic displays came up and the lighting in the room returned.

Spock interjected. "T'Mar, we may need your technical assistance should things get…" He paused, searching for the right word.

"Unfriendly?" Kirk offered. Was Spock _afraid_?

"Unpredictable." Spock corrected. To his side, the room hummed to life. Instruments started to beep and chirp as Vulcan syntax scrolled by, giving T'Mar the information she sought. Still bent over the computer bank, she kept working as she addressed her companions in a worried voice. "But my father…"She was afraid to consider the possibility.

"When we find him, you'll be the first to know." Kirk replied, making a promise with his eyes.

T'Mar refocused, her demeanour changing back to normal. "I will remain in constant contact."

That was all the _Enterprise_ Captain needed to hear. "Thank you." Kirk turned to see Spock approaching the door.

"Captain, shall we proceed?" Spock asked, tilting his head to the side.

"After you." Kirk gestured toward the main door and followed his first officer out.

 **…**

The bridge extended out over a waterway below. The water flowed from the river between the buildings out into sea. The ocean roared in the distance as birds glided over the waves on the air currents that blew past them.

Kirk noticed a curved protective glass wall on the side that faced the ocean. He figured it kept the wind from blowing you off into the water below. _Smart thinking._ The wind whipped between the two buildings quick enough that a gust could send you pitching over the side. That wasn't a good prospect, considering there were sharp rocks interspersed down there as well as water. A couple of large suns shone down a warm light. It all seemed quite nice here. Or foreboding. Kirk couldn't be sure which.

Spock could see the bridge had been purposely deactivated. A two meter long gap lay ahead. Kirk peered over the edge. "I believe we may have a problem."

"Really? Bet you can't make that jump." Kirk glanced over, smiling at his first officer.

"It is highly doubtful that either of us can cross unharmed." As usual, Spock couldn't understand the joke. Kirk sighed and looked around a moment before seeing the activation panel at the other end. He unlocked it remotely with his tricorder. The half he was standing on extended outward and locked on the other side of the gap. The floor unfolded, two flaps filling out the rest of the walkway. The bridge went quiet.

Kirk ran up to the door leading into an unfinished building. Strangely enough, this door was unlocking. When it opened, a cold, damp rush of air passed over him. A shiver went down his spine. Kirk saw the room inside was dark, but not enough to not see a limp figure in front of him. He stiffened and rushed over to see to the figure, when he saw more. Several were strewn about.

"They are dead, Captain." Spock's voice sounded grim. Kirk could hear T'Mar catch her breath. He pulled out his tricorder. There was another Vulcan ahead in a pool of blood. Another was dead, slumped over in a forklift seat. A large pillar on the left was not yet completed and was covered with a white tarp, as was the other wall farther off.

Kirk scanned one of the Vulcans lying out on a cargo container. "I think he's been poisoned."

"Scans show numerous toxins in the adrenal glands and blood stream." Spock's voice was calm, but his face was obviously troubled. Behind them, the door shut with a thud. Kirk's muscles stiffened slightly. He felt like he was in a vintage horror movie, which was bad, considering the main characters usually died.

Observing the room, Spock noticed the scratch marks of the wall. _Too large to be Vulcan,_ he thought. They cut through the tarp, but also the solid duranium walls. There were holes caused by a weapon's discharge, which he showed Kirk. Kirk couldn't take his eyes off of two more Vulcans, leaning against the wall, dead. Blood spattered the wall behind them. He could see five more ahead, lying down in their blood. Puncture holes marked the wall behind them as well.

 _What could've done this?_ The sight was horrible. Kirk could barely look at it without feeling sick. A creaking noise caused them both to jump. They stood still, pointing their weapons out over the railing to the darkness on their left. Tarp, walls and doors on the far side of the building, but nothing was moving. It was all still. So quiet that Kirk could hear his own breathing as if it was in his own ear.

Loud tapping noises started. Kirk was getting a little on edge. He swallowed. Then came a distant metallic creak, louder that the first. Kirk knelt down beside a blood stain that wasn't green like the Vulcan blood. Sparks flew out from a forklift at his side.

"What is that?" Kirk couldn't make sense of his tricorder readings.

"It appears to be blood plasma, but I cannot determine its origin. My tricorder-"

A flash of light appeared at the wall. A shadow of a man rushed by, waving its hands with reckless abandon. Kirk squatted down, gripping the rail hard. He turned to look back at Spock, his eyes wide with fear.

"Did you see that?" He whispered loudly. His heart thrummed loudly in his chest.

"I did." Spock's response sounded mildly perturbed as well.

"Do Vulcans believe in ghosts?" Kirk asked, half smiling through his fear.

"Not…typically." Spock caught his breath. His composed look was nowhere to be seen. Sparks came down from the ceiling. They raised their handheld weapons and turned a corner past another deceased Vulcan.

The turbo lift doors slid open. Twenty feet ahead, a Vulcan stood hunched over with his back turned. A line of yellow liquid streaked down his back. Kirk stepped forward to speak, but caught his breath. The man held a rod in his hand. His face was orange and yellow with vein-like lines. His eyes flickered with anger and rage, for a Vulcan. They glowed orange, almost with a cat-like glare. He ran at Kirk, raising a metal bar high in the air. With his crazed Vulcan strength, the bar could easily break Kirk's arms.

"Wait, we're here to help you! Stop!" Kirk barked, to no avail. He raised his phaser and blasted the man square in the chest with a blue stun shot. The man gasped, stiffened, and collapsed, unconscious.

"That guy wasn't right in the head." They stared at the man's body for a moment before Kirk closed his eyes and turned away.

"I am relieved we were able to spare that individual's life." Spock kept looking at the unconscious Vulcan. He knelt down and tagged him for beam out.

"Me too, let's keep it that way. Stun only from this point out." They got inside the turbo lift. Before shutting the doors, Kirk removed the comm from his belt and called up to the ship.

 _"_ _Enterprise, we've got one to beam up directly to sickbay."_

 _"_ _Aye, sir."_ His chief responded. Kirk watched the Vulcan disappear in a swirl of light as the doors shut.

 **…**

Just as the doors opened again, they heard heavy breathing. Another Vulcan stood with his back to them, hunched over in pain. Spock pointed out of the lift.

"Another disturbed individual."

"We gotta take him out, but remember, stun only."

"I would not have it any other way." Kirk fired a stun shot, then snuck up behind the Vulcan and placed him in a choke hold. He struggled for a moment before gasping and collapsing unconscious.

Kirk hurried up, to find the door had been secured. _Darn it._ "This door is locked tight, we need a code."

"A mindmeld may be our only chance to find out what has happened." Spock knelt down beside the Vulcan and raised his hands tentatively above the man's head.

"Are you sure you want to touch that guy?" Kirk gave him a worried look. He didn't need Spock going nuts on him, too. The infection could be contagious.

"A mindmeld is our only option." He sat the Vulcan up and placed his hands on his face. Spock shut his eyes and appeared to go into a deep thought. Everything went black. Suddenly, screams and hissing noises entered his mind. Several images of reptilian faces and explosions raced by his eyes in a flurry of activity. Guttural noises, grunts and more hisses passed. Finally, Spock withdrew his hands. A moment later, he placed him down. He looked deeply concerned.

"Anything?" By the look on Spock's face, he wouldn't be surprised if there wasn't.

"I have never encountered this before. His mind has been corrupted." He took a deep breath, steadying his thoughts."Also, I now know the code to that door." He jogged up the four stairs to go to work on the door. Kirk unholstered his tricorder.

" _Enterprise_ , we have injured. Prepare to beam up."

 _"_ _Aye, sir. Everything all right?"_

"Yeah, just some Vulcan problems."

 _"_ _So, the usual."_ Scotty chuckled and clicked off his communicator. The Vulcan vanished in another whirl of yellow light.

Spock unlocked the door and proceeded on. The hallway was thinly filled with smoke. The tarp on the framework of the wall and a six wheeled machine lay dormant there as a sign there was still construction here when the incident occurred.

 _"_ _Captain, I am detecting several Vulcans behind this door but their readings are erratic."_ T'Mar's voice sounded urgent with concern.

Spock regarded his Captain, his lips parted. "May I suggest setting our phasers to stun? After all, they are Vulcans." He pulled out his own personal hand phaser, aptly named the Vulcan repeater. It was shaped with a top-curved barrel, and had a large handle that went all the way around the fingers. Spock set it to its stun setting. Nodding once, Kirk followed suit.

Kirk raised his tricorder near the door locking mechanism and prepared to open it. Spock raised his phaser and counted down using his fingers, mouthing three, two, one…

The lock turned green and the center door locking mechanism spun. As the doors slid horizontally apart, the Vulcan ahead of them ran toward them waving a crowbar in the air. He glared at the Captain and first officer with pure hate as he sprinted maniacally at them.

"I see you! I cannot...control this!" Spock raised his weapon. A blue beam shot out. The crazed Vulcan doubled over dazed by the stun. The first officer then gave him a sharp upper cut, sending the infected man into unconsciousness.

Another Vulcan jumped through an already broken window ahead and charged as well. Kirk fired almost maximum stun into him. The man leaned over, holding his head in almost agony. A hard right from the Captain downed him.

Kirk looked down at the two. How could _Vulcans_ become like this? He glowered, hating that he had to use violent force on innocents. Spock had distaste for it as well, but knew it was necessary. It was strange that these Vulcans had warned them while trying to kill them.

 _What is going on?_ Kirk wanted answers."Let's find this Surok guy and get the hell out of here." Before climbing carefully through the broken window, Kirk noticed an unconscious Vulcan against the machine of some sort. Broken glass covered the floor. Spock read a wall panel on the right saying LABORATORY, SUROK.

A door slid open to reveal two Vulcan guards standing at the ready. Spock addressed them as they sighed with relief at the Captain and First officer's presences. Probably because neither wanted to beat them with metal rods.

"Officer."

One took off running in, directing them to follow. "Quickly. Come in." The room was, as everything else Vulcan, shaped almost like a tube. The walls curved outward. In the rooms center was a console facing a large horizontal cylindrical tube that resembled the warp core of the _Enterprise_. It was behind protective glass. The guard abruptly stopped an assumed a stance before motioning the two up a short set of steps.

Kirk saw a man facing away from them with his hands clasped behind his back. The only light in the room was provided by a vertical tube with white and blue energy shooting through them.

"Osavensu." Spock chose to greet Surok with the Vulcan version of "hello."

Surok turned around with surprise. "Spock."

"Surok, I am relieved to see you unharmed. This is my commanding officer, Captain Kirk. Captain, this is Surok."

"Pleasure." Kirk responded to Surok nod and slight bow.

"And T'Mar?"

T'Mar's voice crackled over the comm. _"I am here father."_ Surok nodded again, looking quite relieved.

"T'Mar, I am pleased to hear your voice." Surok nodded and shut his eyes.

Now that they were okay, Kirk knew they had to get down to business. "Now what the hell is going on down there?"

Surok's face was drawn with seriousness. "We have been attacked. Creatures of an unknown origin. They emerged from the rip not long after it appeared."

Kirk was intrigued. "What creatures?"

"We have only been able to decipher that they call themselves 'the Gorn.'" He turned his head toward Spock, his voice deepening in seriousness. "Spock, we _cannot_ allow the power of the Helios machine to fall into their hands. It would be catastrophic."

"Why would they be after the machine?" Kirk asked. He glanced to the side to notice the round console to his left, scrolling down endless Vulcan text. It faded from green to blue from to bottom. There other orange and red and blue readouts elsewhere were distracting.

Surok swept his hand to illustrate, saying, "They could use it to create rips anywhere in the universe. They would be able to attack without warning."

This was becoming worse fast. The Captain didn't have patience to wait for it to get even worse. "Where is the machine now?" Kirk furrowed his eye brows.

"Further underground, in the colony's deepest labs." They followed Surok down another set of stairs. "I have secured all entries into the lab to prevent the device from falling into hostile hands. T'Mar, are you able to provide additional assistance?"

 _"_ _I can open the fire door that leads deeper into the labs. After that point I will no longer be able to assist them."_

"Your guidance is all we ask." Spock unlocked the door leading out of the lab.

T'Mar looked at her screen. She couldn't see any Vulcan readings. _"Then I advise caution. There are likely to be more infected Vulcans up ahead."_

"Got it," Kirk said wiping sweat from his brow. The empty room, except for an unoccupied circular console led into long, dark hall. Sparks shot up from a locked door. Damaged metal frames and scraps sat nearby. Ahead, a dead Vulcan lay on the floor with a tricorder and sash still on him. His blood splattered around small holes in the wall. He fought off the image in his head and hurried down the foyer.

 _"_ _You appear to be approaching a disabled door."_ T'Mar's voice was already sounding a little crackly from the interference.

 _No problem,_ Kirk thought. He turned to Spock. "We'll force it open."

 _"_ _Your success is unlikely. The structure of this door is designed for containment."_ Kirk scanned it with his tricorder. It was strong enough to hold against a grenade blast. Locked tight. _"It may be possible to restore power using a spare power cell. I will mark the location of the power cells on your tricorders."_

"There is no need, T'Mar. We have one out of its socket right here in front of us." Spock moved toward it but Kirk lifted it first. He shoved it into the hole with a metallic scraping sound. He gripped the handle and twisted is to the right. It beeped twice and turned green. The door's edge illuminated and it opened. The first thing Kirk saw after that was dark water and swaying plants outside a window up ahead. They were below sea level now. He stepped forward, but Spock whispered to stop. He pointed to a Vulcan pacing inside a security room. He was fully infected. In his hand, he gripped a metal rod tightly.

"If we move quietly and maintain a low profile, we should avoid detection."

Surok heard this. Leaning to his pickup, he whispered. _"Captain, if you must dispatch them, please be merciful."_

"Understood." Kirk and Spock crouched and made their way over against the wall under the security room's window. Inside, the Vulcan officer breathed heavily, complaining of the lack of ability to control his actions. Two more dead Vulcans were in the hallway as the turned the corner towards the door to the security room.

 _This could get very ugly._ Kirk held onto his phaser a little tighter.

The door opened quietly. Kirk crept in, crouching to avoid making a sound. When he got close enough he put a choke hold on the guard from behind. The officer thrashed and fought before gradually going limp. Spock melded with him while Kirk kept watch, straining to hear of see if any more infected crew members were coming. As soon as he set him down, Spock opened a door to a closet inside the room. Kirk went in fast with his phaser. Nothing was inside. Just a few storage boxes and a communicator. Kirk recorded its contents and left the room.

Spock hurried ahead to the next room down the hall and unlocked the door. Kirk struggled to quietly catch up."Stay down, don't let them see you."

They entered and hid behind the various boxes and containers of all sizes. Some were stacked high, all the way to the ceiling. Spare machines and parts were at the far end of the area. A Vulcan female, obviously infected, cried out in a desperate voice. Very unvulcan-like, indeed. She had no control over her actions.

"Keep hiding. If I find you, I do not know what I will do." She cried out.

Kirk raised his phaser and stunned her. Leaping out of hiding, he ran to knock her out before she attracted attention. She yelled loudly. "Arrgghh! Is someone there? Have you found something that-" Kirk knocked her out before she could continue. He looked down at his hand. He couldn't shake the uneasy feeling having to punch a woman.

Around the corner, patrolling the room was another Vulcan guard paced, slowly and surely, as if automated. A chill went up Kirk's spine. He caught himself from exclaiming as he hit himself against the door post. When the guard wasn't looking, he scrambled across the room and behind some containers. The male guard cried whipped around, shouting at anyone in range.

"Keep hiding! Your survival depends on it." Spock came from behind the door corner and stunned the guard, while Kirk leapt over the boxes and punched him out before the guard could recover and attack. The next door had a blues sign with yellow writing saying ENERGY CORE ALPHA.

A Vulcan stood facing away, heaving when the doors opened. The rod he held had blood on it. Below him an unconscious Vulcan lay near death. Kirk knew the Vulcan mind inside the infected guard was grieved by what he'd done. _May have been a friend of his_ , he thought.

"You think one of us can get behind that guy and take him out before he notices?" Kirk was unsure about this one. He was larger than the others.

"Most certainly, our Starfleet training has prepared us for this moment."

Spock's usual confidence didn't help Kirk any. He crept forward, sighing. "Must have been away that day." The guard ambled into a room where Kirk choked him out unconscious and shut the door behind him. He locked it tight.

Spock flipped open his tricorder. "Doctor McCoy, have you been able to ascertain the nature of the Vulcan's infection?"

McCoy's southern accent responded. _"There seems to be high toxin levels. Origins unknown. Will continue to investigate."_ The communicator crackled.

Kirk opened his communicator. "Bones?"

 _"_ _You're breaking up…can't hear you…deep underground."_ The signal beeped and cut out. Kirk shut it after a moment of silence. "Lost him."

"It appears we are now completely on our own." They crept down stairs following another infected Vulcan carrying a large gun. He left the room. Spock tilted his head sideways in recognition of the gun. After the destruction of Vulcan, it seemed logical to create a weapon that could be used to better defend oneself. This one was quite adequate, and deadly.

"What is it?"

Spock pointed toward the door. "That weapon is highly volatile. It is a semi-automatic repeating pulse rifle, containing three clips of sixty rounds each."

"So…a Vulcan machine gun?" _Who knew Vulcans made something like this?_ The crouch position began to cramp his lower back. They hid behind dark blue glowing pillars filled with energy, or plasma. Kirk didn't know.

"That description, though crude, is adequate. However, this does not fire projectiles, rather it uses energy-" he stopped as the infected Vulcan came back in through the door and began patrolling back toward the stairs. Kirk stunned him and Spock calmly walked over and administered the Vulcan nerve pinch to where his shoulder met his neck. The Vulcan fell. Kirk picked up his gun and led Spock into out the room toward the next lab. Before them was another unconscious Vulcan lay on the floor in front of the two doors leading into the next lab. It would've been pitch dark, except for crackling blue and white vertical energy beam shooting through the center of the room. The round room had glass and consoles all around the center beam shooting down from the ceiling. Boxes, supplies and glass littered the room. It was a mess. Several Vulcans patrolled, all heavily armed and hostile.

"Great, more 'friendlies.' " Kirk whispered. They tried to creep around the glass. One unconscious Vulcan appeared to have been thrown through the glass, and lay unconscious, folded over the rail. Spock picked up a weapon left on the ground like Kirk's.

"Set it to secondary fire. That will convert the energy into a form that will cause a wide spread burst of energy sufficient to render them unconscious. Unfortunately, it quickly drains you weapon's energy."

"Right." A Vulcan started. All the others suddenly became on high alert. _Dammit!_ Kirk and Spock quickly hid. Kirk took a deep breath, turned and fired the blue ball of energy at the Vulcan. He froze before dropping his gun and falling over. The other Vulcans started calling out. "Is something over there?"

"It thinks something is near."

"It wants me to KILL you!" They ran from cover to cover, looking.

Kirk and Spock shared a look. _It? What did that mean?_ Kirk's mind flashed back to the people on Deneva after the neural parasites took over. The Vulcans were acting the same, fearing for Kirk and Spock's safety. _Could the disease be another entity within them?_

Rapid fire shots rang out. Glass shattered over their heads. "Stop me, I cannot control myself!"

"Save yourself now! I am being forced to hurt you! Are you still there?" Another growly man's voice yelled. The Vulcans fired from all sides, not giving any chance to stun until their clips ran out. Spock and Kirk took turns firing, but each stun shot took half a clip. Their ammo was low. A Vulcan popped up out of nowhere and Kirk yelped and stunned him point blank. He froze, groaned and fell. Kirk unloaded a clip from his gun and tossed one to Spock. "Here, catch!"

"AHH!" Kirk yelled as shots just missed him and hit the wall. Shots reflected off the metal and flew in all directions. He looked from side to side, urgently searching for more attackers.

Spock yelled to get his attention. "Captain, our position is vulnerable. We must move. Go!" he let loose a stun shot, knocking out a Vulcan and sending another diving to cover. Kirk hurried over down stairs to a lower level closer to the blue light. A pulse of blue energy struck the ground between two Vulcan's knocking both out.

Shots scared Kirk behind a crate. His heart raced. The crate he hid behind splintered under heavy fire.

A discharge. Kirk saw a blue glowing light hit the remaining Vulcan. Spock offered a hand to help him up. They ran toward the exit, going for the turbo lift.

Except for thrumming and zapping coming from the energy beam, the room was eerily quiet.

"The amount of infected we have encountered is alarming." Spock said. A shadow passed over his face. An unconscious Vulcan lay slumped at the controls, the other was unoccupied. In front of the turbo lift a puddle of yellow drying ooze lay.

Kirk hovered a hand over it, palm up. "What do you suppose it is?"

"It is like the blood sample we saw earlier, Captain. The blood contains the same toxins found in the infected Vulcans bloodstreams." Spock knew that this sample was definitely _not_ Vulcan. It was yellow, not green like Vulcan blood. It also had several strange cells that seemed highly abnormal for any life form he knew about.

"Let's keep moving." The blood puddle had been large enough that there should have been a body. Unless whoever lost it was massive enough that it didn't matter. Kirk shivered.

 **…**

A humming noise.

Abruptly, it stopped. The doors slid open with a swish.

Kirk could see another deceased or unconscious Vulcan at his console. The room had no lights on either. It, too, was dark and silent save the odd _creak_ or _beep_ noise.

Exiting the turbo lift, Kirk looked at his weapon. It was low on power. Spock noticed the same of his. He went over to what looked like a gray Vulcan fire hydrant. Kirk's face scrunched with confusion as Spock held his weapon next to it.

"What are you doing?"

"This is a recharge port. It only takes a moment for an energy transfer to recharge our weapons ammunition." The top opened to reveal a glowing circle with two halves lit. Spock interconnected his weapon and drained the power into his gun. Kirk did the same.

"We're approaching the Helios lab." Kirk got over to the door, while Spock checked the limp Vulcan in a chair. The door was jammed open a crack, with a fire burning other junk in front. Kirk couldn't get near enough to open it. He let out a sigh of frustration.

"This just doesn't get any easier, does it? Let's look for another way in." He looked around the room. Various readouts played on the wall screens. An unconscious Vulcan was limp in his chair, his console still awaiting a response to an earlier request. It beeped quietly. Kirk tagged the Vulcan for beam out, but knew it would be a while before the ship got a reliable signal. A small communicator lay beside him. He logged the contents and kept searching. Spock looked around for a way to put out the fire. Over in the far right corner behind him, a panel caught Kirk's eye. He waved Spock over. The door appeared to lead down to an alternate maintenance passage way.

"Spock, over here! An access hatch!" They opened the door and slid down the ladder. A narrow pathway led them past maintenance panels. It was dark and foggy. The lights inside illuminated the passage in blue. Just then Kirk heard T'Mar's voice over the communicator. _Finally some contact._

 _"_ _The Gorn are attempting to steal the device. You must hurry!"_ A distant growl above them caused them both to look up. They heard another noise that could have been metal doors being pried apart. Kirk climbed the ladder first, while Spock waited below.

The floor panel above Kirk was stuck. He struggled to push it up. Repositioning his feet, he stretched out his legs and pushed up over his head on the panel. His arms began to ach as he shoved over and over. He took in a deep breath. With one last heave, it began to give way.

The panel suddenly flew open. Kirk grunted, and then froze when he saw a large, reptilian creature about nine feet tall peering back at him. The creature's mouth opened slightly to reveal a line of razor sharp teeth. With a claw, it grabbed him by the neck a flung his upward out of the hole with a loud roar. Kirk reached up and grasped at his own neck, feeling the air cut off.

 **…**

Kirk felt the tight grip of the Gorn's fist around his throat. It grabbed him with both hands and launched him at a two black crates stacked on top of each other. Kirk hit the boxes with a loud thud before falling to the floor. He hit his head and slammed to the floor.

Fire shot though his back and head. Kirk let out a cry of pain. But the Gorn wasn't finished with him. It staggered over and picked him up with one hand. Kirk fought and struggled for breath, grabbing at its fingers. The Gorn breathed in his face. It was the nastiest thing he'd ever smelt. A combination of garbage, vomit and fish. Maybe blood as well. _Disgusting._

Lungs crying for air, he took in another breath. _Oh, God!_ Kirk choked and almost passed out. The lizard's belch was thick and nauseating. Painfully aware of his vulnerability and lack or ability to reach any weapon, Kirk fought with what he did have: fists.

The Gorn stopped and vocalized harshly, a shrill of some kind. He appeared to be studying his weak, helpless captor. He roared again in triumph before Spock climbed halfway up into the room. He aimed and fired the Vulcan machine gun into the Gorn's back. It roared and dropped Kirk, falling on all fours. Quickly getting up, it roared at Spock. Kirk ducked behind the boxes and crouched. He fired his phaser and got off two good shots. The Gorn didn't even seem to notice or care. Instead, it seemed more interested in a rack of highly unstable energy cells. Raising one of the dilithium batteries over its head, it prepared to hurl the thing at them. Kirk unleashed the brunt of his phaser's power at the creature, destroying the cell in a blinding white light. The concussive force shook the room, but only caused the creature to take a single step back. Kirk and Spock kept assaulting the creature as it lifted another cell out of the set. Spock's weapon ignited the flammable fuel inside the cell. Again, the creature stumbled back, roaring in anger. Dropping head and shoulders down and aimed at Kirk, charging like a furious bull.

Kirk's Vulcan weapon was completely out. He reloaded quickly, then instinctively clipped it on his back and whipped out his hand phaser. Several crimson bolts hit the oncoming attacker. He slid between the legs of his attacker and popped to his feet. The Gorn's momentum sent it careening, hitting a pillar and smashed it to pieces before stopping and turning around. Kirk cringed. _If it could do that to a concrete pillar…yikes._

Spock opened fire. The Gorn ran forward, barely missing him as he slid out of the way. As if going into second base. Kirk fired to distract the attacker's attention before sprinting back in the other direction. Then Spock fired. The Gorn ran back and forth, chasing them with no signs of its seemingly boundless energy wearing thin. It turned again, cornering Spock.

Before he could turn and escape, the creature ran down the Vulcan. It leapt through the air and came down, smashing Spock to the floor. A foot kicked the helpless first officer. Kirk ran toward it with his arm extended forward, firing.

"Are you okay?" he yelled. No response. At first.

"I am down, Captain!" Spock cried out, arms shaking as he tried to aim his phaser at his adversary. His ribs seared. He suspected he would discover a large hematoma on his side later. Possibly a break.

"Spock!" He needed to get to him. "HEY! HEY!" he called to the Gorn, shooting at its green scaled back. It turned to look up at him, growling. As it started to charge, Kirk turned to run, but it was no use. The long strides the creature took caught up to him. The large scaly body smacked into him like a brick wall. Kirk tumbled to the floor, hitting arms first with a loud thud. When his head stopped spinning, he pulled his Vulcan weapon and aimed. All of his Starfleet combat training was useless against this thing. _Time to break the rules, or at least rewrite them._

The Gorn raised its foot and brought it down hard toward Kirk's face. He gasped, thrusting the weapon into the sole of its foot, struggling to keep it from crushing him. He could feel his arms giving way.

His mind raced. He needed to get out, to reach Spock. With a hard thrust, he pushed up and to the left before rolling right. The massive clawed foot came down with a bang, denting the metal. Kirk tumbled away to safety. Crawling, running to Spock. The Gorn jumped forward with a roar, attempting to stomp on Kirk's legs.

"Here." He stuck a hypo spray into Spock's neck hurriedly, hearing the footsteps behind him. "That should make you feel better."

"My thanks." They both dove out of the way of the oncoming Gorn. Both aimed and fired projectiles at the creature. It shook its head and roared loudly. It was obviously annoyed. Again and again it charged. Again and again, Kirk and Spock dove away from its path of destroyed crates and pillars. Finally, it ran back toward the power cells, tired of giving chase. It's massive chest muscle flexed under its thick scaled hide.

 _It is heavily injured and weakened,_ thought Spock. _Possibly one or two shots more..._ His gaze froze. _The energy cells._ He just had to hit them at the right time. The creature clutched one and held it in front of itself, preparing to heave it at him. Spock swapped out his phaser for the Vulcan weapon slung over his back; Kirk raised an identical rifle. Both fired. The cell exploded with a white flash. The Gorn roared and staggered to the side before recovering enough to retrieve another cell from the rack. It was determined to stop them from getting close.

Kirk and Spock continued firing undeterred. Kirk stared intently at his opponent as it lifted another cell.

"Hold your fire." Kirk took aim, hesitating. "Wait for it..."

Spock aimed and held his breath. If he blew up the entire rack of cells at once, the whole room could go up, and they would all die. One would _certainly_ be enough to kill the Gorn attacker, if it was close enough to its body. Wounds it had already incurred poured yellow blood.

"Now!" Kirk shouted as both of them fired simultaneously white pillar clutched to the Gorn's chest. The cell exploded right in the creature's hands. It roared and stiffened, throwing its head back in the air. It stumbled back toward the doors, smashing them open. The broken edges cut into its back. The large monstrosity flipped around to push off the door, screeching a guttural cry before dropping its head and arms and flopping over on its side. It raised its head for a final growl before going limp. The room became quiet again except for the rushing energy as it coursed through the pipes above. Kirk and Spock approached cautiously, weapons aimed at its head. Kirk went close to the body and nodded up at Spock, confirming death. Spock took out his tricorder and scanned the creature's blood.

"It is the same toxin we found in the fallen Vulcans, but they do not appear to be infected. They must be the host." He raised an eyebrow as he examined his readings.

Kirk was still gasping from the ordeal. Spock's obvious statement caught Kirk off guard. "Ya think?" He didn't know how Spock was so good at telling him things he already knew. He got up and brushed himself off before climbing gingerly through the hole made by the Gorn. Sharp pieces of metal stuck out tipped with tallow Gorn blood. The silence of an empty observation room was filled with the console droning like the tone of a heart monitor. A limp Vulcan laid sprawled out next to a comm, which Spock recorded.

"All these communications could help us piece together what happened down here." He said to the Captain, who silently questioned his actions.

Kirk pulled out his communicator, checking the signal. It was still there. Satisfied, he holstered it again.

A decontamination scanner did greet them with the usual instructions, but no one manned the controls. Kirk gripped his weapon tighter. That meant trouble. Spock knew this was where the device was kept. Because of what had just happened, he could not be sure what they would find on the other side of the door.

 **…**

Spock could see two things upon entering the secure lab; the cubic Helios device floating in a beam of blueish white energy – and a large, muscular with armour plating Gorn eyeing it from the other side of the room. He was dark green on his back and whitish on his underside. He stood, unlike the others, on his hind legs.

"Captain, the Helios device!" They both watched as the glowing beam of energy thrummed and pulsated, suspending the device in mid air. The Gorn glanced over to them, and then climbed up on the railing. Suddenly, the beam disengaged and the reptile jumped through the air to catch the falling device. It landed hard on the floor and jumped onto a console.

"He's got the device." Kirk exclaimed, noticing several other Gorn enter the room across from them. They were green and white underneath, smaller and more agile. "Wiry" seemed to be the word for them; they had lean muscle but were still quite thin. _Wiries._ Each carried large weapons resembling the Gorn equivalent to phaser rifles, only with ridges on the side. The large one carrying the device looked over at his comrades. Pointing a clawed finger at Kirk and Spock, it roared something to the other Gorn before exiting the room. Kirk and Spock watched as he tore from the room. They evaded weapons fire from the other Gorn, hunkering down behind consoles load their weapons.

"We must not let him escape." Spock said, adjusting his weapon. Yellow beams shot out from the Gorn weapons, shattering glass and damaging consoles. Kirk ducked behind an activated console and fired back, dropping one creature. He quickly re-aimed at another and squeezed the trigger. Another Gorn recoiled, bowing below a railing. Shots flew over Kirk's head as he waited for his target to run out of ammunition.

 _Come on..._ The shots came so close he could feel the heat on the top of his head.

As soon as the shots stopped, he popped up and fired. Energy bursts shot around the room with reckless abandon. Kirk's aim was spot on; the Gorn crumpled. Spock took down a third Gorn. It dropped dead with a groan and let out a gasp.

A shot whizzed over Kirk's head. It hit the wall with a thud. Another hit Spock, knocking him over. He got up dazed and slipped back into cover.

"You alright?" Kirk squinted through the smoke coming out of the now damaged console beside him.

"I am uninjured!" Spock did a once over of himself to make sure his quick assessment of his health was indeed true.

Kirk came around the side of the ringed glass and console layout of the room to find a clear shot two meters to his right. Peering over a console, he fired at the remaining Gorn, hitting and missing. When the Gorn became dazed by the barrage he stood up and fired on it with perfect accuracy. It groaned and fell over dead. Spock immediately tried to contact his Vulcan mentor.

"Surok, we are too late. They have taken the Helios device." He waited. Nothing but static. "Surok?" Still nothing came. Realizing the futility, he closed his comm. "He does not appear to be answering, Captain." Spock's suspicions as to _why_ were written all over his face.

Kirk cursed under his breath. He shuddered to think what they would've done to him. He took stock of all the Vulcans lying around him. Unconscious or dead, he didn't know which. "We gotta get that device back. T'Mar, do you know where they went?"

 _"_ _Difficult to tell, but it appears that they are taking it towards the surface."_

Kirk sighed and let his head hang. "We'll never catch them." He looked around at the dead Vulcans in the room and figuring Surok would be next.

T'Mar paused for a moment, searching for a way out. Her voice responded with slight excitement, if that was possible for Vulcans. _"Captain, if I restore power to the turbo lift, you may be able to intercept them."_

"Do it." A loud noise of the turbolift powering up echoed through the silence.

 _"_ _Power has been restored. You may proceed to the turbo lift."_ They got in the dark lift and shut the doors. Spock punched in the code directing the lift to go up. Kirk stood there admiring the Vulcan weapon more than his phaser.

"T'Mar, alert the _Enterprise_ there _may_ be some Vulcans down here in need of assistance."

 _"_ _Acknowledged."_

Spock turned to watch the Captain looking over the weapon in his hands. "Appreciating the craftsmanship, sir?"

The corners of Kirk's mouth twitched upwards. "I just can't believe you Vulcans would make a machine gun."

"Perhaps you would like to know that it is actually a called a 'pulse cannon'." Spock pressed his lips together and made a sideways glance at his captain.

"Yeah? Well it's still cool, and effective. I like it." He reloaded the weapon held it at his side.

"Hopefully it will continue to be so." Spock wondered if it would be able to hold off the multiple waves of Gorn that were most certainly moving in to stop them.


	5. Chapter 5

_Chapter 3_

 _Stardate 2259.32_

 _New Vulcan – Main Laboratories_

The dark green glow of the waters out the windows on either side of the room contrasted against the flames burning on a console in front of them. Plant life under the water swayed peacefully in the gentle currents. Kirk shook his head at the irony.

In the room, Kirk and Spock stopped in front of a Vulcan corpse in a puddle of his own blood. Kirk reached down picked up a stun grenade out of the surrounding puddle. Spock frowned and looked at the Captain with dismay.

"What? They're not going to do him any good." Kirk shrugged and stared back with a pleading look on his face. "Look, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have let you come here, being so close to all this. I-"

"You are correct." Spock interrupted. "We _do_ need to use anything we can to our advantage." He picked up the other grenade and holstered it. He pulled out his comm device. " _Enterprise_ , come in." _Nothing_.

"Scotty, Chekov, respond!" Kirk shouted trying to be heard over weapons fire ahead.

The only voice that answered was T'Mar's. "You'll have a difficult time communicating with your crew, captain. When the Helios device is out of its containment cell, it causes a great deal of interference."

Kirk groaned. "Perfect...looks like it's just you and me, Spock." He clapped his friend's shoulder.

"That seems to be the usual course." Two Vulcans squatted behind a crate, firing on Gorn attackers that lurked around the corner.

"Hey, guys, we're here to help." Kirk cried out over the ricocheting energy pulses. A tiny blinking object rolled to stop against the crate.

 _Is that a bomb?_ Kirk's heart raced into double time. "GRENADE! LOOK OUT!"

The force of the explosion launched the Vulcans back in their direction. The limp bodies landed in front of them and lay on the ground, motionless. Kirk froze in shock, his mouth hanging open. Spock quickly bent down and felt for pulses.

"They are alive, Captain!"

"Good!" He caught his breath. "We can't go left." He pointed around sideway with a thumb. "We'd be dead for sure. On the count of three, we head forward. Those boxes should be good cover. We'll have a better position there. Ready? One...two..."

"THREE!" The two shot off toward the crates, firing to the left as they ran. Getting to the other side, Spock pointed up to an open hatch in the ceiling.

"We can get around them using these conduits." Kirk was preoccupied with a strange looking green and yellow object that looked like three mounds of dirt, yet they were solid, and active. He scanned it with his tricorder. Much to his amazement, the object was technology. He flipped his tricorder shut and hopped onto the crates. Spock boosted him up into the shaft. Once up there, he reached down and pulled Spock up.

Both officers crouched to avoid making noise. First they went left, then right, and then left again. Two holes led down to Gorn ambush.

"Well, right or left, Spock?"

He looked at his tricorder. "Going left will place us behind some cover." Quickly they both dropped down from the ceiling behind the crates, ready to fire. Sweat beaded on Kirk's forehead.

Kirk pointed his Vulcan pulse cannon and fired. Spock used his tricorder to disengage the pillars the Gorn were using as cover. As soon as they sank into the floor, the exposed enemies were as good as dead. Spock alone would have been tough as it was. With his adrenaline and lightning quick combat skills, each Gorn Spock encountered was simply overwhelmed and outmatched. Moving forward, Kirk whipped to his left and quickly exchanged fire with a Gorn up ahead. Spock unlocked a door behind him and prepared to engage the other two enemies beyond it.

Down the hall in front of him, Kirk aimed at his attacker's head and unleashed a barrage on it. The Gorn fighter slumped to the floor, groaning. Wheeling back around, Kirk ducked behind a door post to see another Gorn poised to fire on his partner.

"Spock! 10 o'clock!" Spock turned a little to the left and met the reptilian creature's cold gaze just as Kirk aimed and squeezed the trigger hard. Several shots fired in rapid succession, knocking back the Gorn. It collapsed next to its partner. Spock stared ahead in slight shock and surprise.

The Vulcan commander steadied his breathing. "Thank you, Captain."

"Huh...no problem..." Just as he began to leave, a small torpedo shaped object connected to the floor caught his eye. He tapped his first officer on the shoulder. Spock examined the object with his tricorder, studying the rough schematic. At its base, energy glowed orange as it flowed up long snaking wires from the floor.

"This is _not_ Vulcan in origin," Spock muttered under his breath.

"Probably Gorn tech then. What's it do?"

"Perhaps an interface device meant to access the ground base's primary systems."

Kirk crossed his arms. "Personally I'd rather shoot my way in."

After a few seconds, the two of them left and moved slowly down the hall. To the right, a small eating area, much like a cafeteria, lay empty and dark. The tables were bare. Kirk glanced over at the plants swaying outside the window; the refreshment station; the tables in the corner. There was not a single noise in the room.

 _Clear; good._ They left as swiftly as they came. Next to a weapon recharge port, a circular device with wires jutting out from all sides was fused into the wall circuits. Kirk scanned it, though he knew this had to be some sort of hacking tool. It was most likely the Gorn trying to find a way out.

A flicker of movement behind the clear glass doors caught Spock's eye. He and Kirk grabbed a door each and pried it open. He silently pointed towards what he'd seen, searching for a way to get closer to it. After a second they could see it was one of the ill Vulcans. They watched as he heaved loudly and hunched his back, holding an iron rod while the room slowly filled with water. It was pouring in from a breaking the window. Kirk cringed as he saw the electrical tower just a foot away from the Vulcan. A livewire flailed around coming dangerously close to the man.

Kirk's eyes widened. "NO! Stay back!"

The infected Vulcan didn't take any notice. He looked both ways before hitting the tower with his rod. A milky-blue flash of light flashed from the tower, and a bolt of blue electricity shot through the Vulcan, causing him to gasp and seize up. The wire fell into the water, electrifying the entire floor. A second utility tower rose up out of the water. Kirk stared at the body floating face down in the water and shivered. He planted a foot down and turned away in anger.

"I believe that water is now an electrical hazard. We need to find a way across without stepping in the water."

"Get wet and I get zapped. Seems simple enough." He stopped to stretch out the cramps in his shoulder.

"Indeed." Spock tried to avoid stepping in a large smear of Vulcan blood on the floor partially covering a Vulcan symbol.

 _Infinite diversity, Infinite Combinations._

He touched the blood, staring at his two fingers.

 _Infinite despair._ That was more fitting for what they'd seen.

Kirk looked around the room. It smelled like salt and rotting vegetation from the ocean water spilling in. Sparks flew up from the water and danced through the air. The tower the Vulcan attacked now glowed with a brilliant white light, the brightest in the otherwise dim room. Several identical towers barely peaked out above the water's surface in a square around the central one.

"What are those structures below the water?"

"That room is equipped with extendable electronics bays, deploying them may provide the route you need." T'Mar was apparently still able to contact them.

"Ahh, I see." Kirk activated the hydraulic lift on each of the structures, and one by one they rose from the water slowly. "I'll bet this is the first time anybody's ever used them to cross the room."

When the last tower deployed, he holstered his tricorder and paused to mentally prepare for the first jump. Slowly he back up, readying himself.

"Well, here goes nothing, Spock..."

"Good luck, Captain."

Kirk ran towards the edge of the water and launched himself at the tower. His hands flailed in the air before getting a grasp on the outside edge. "Ugh!" He drew in a few quick breaths. "See? Nothing to it."

Spock frowned. "I do not believe it was _that_ easy, sir."

Kirk smirked a little. To his right, a live wire whipped around from the ceiling.

"So, left it is, then." He shifted back slightly before leaping left and latching onto the next tower. He had already gotten to the third tower when the sound of T'Mar's voice nearly made him lose his grip.

 _"_ _Kirk! Spock!"_ Thinly disguised fear laced her words. _"Something has happened to my father. I think the Gorn have taken Surok."_

"Where is he?" Kirk asked gruffly, wrapping one arm around a support pole. _Brilliant. Snapping at a woman whose dad has been kidnapped by evil lizard guys._ "We'll get him back," he finished in a kinder voice.

 _"_ _No. The Helios machine must be your top priority."Got it."Surok would not have us save him,"_ she plead, _"only to put the entire galaxy in danger."_

"T'Mar, what's the status of the device?" Kirk asked, gripping the railing tightly, one arm extended towards his next target.

 _"_ _They've nearly reached the surface."_ By this point, T'Mar almost sounded frantic. _Well, Vulcan frantic._

"Dammit. We need to move faster." He made the next two leaps in rapid succession. As Kirk prepared himself for the final jump, he spied a console below and behind him. He pulled out his tricorder with one hand and accessed the terminal. _Power controls...perfect._ He shut down the power supply to the towers, and all electrical activity ceased. Sighing with relief, he jumped down to the platform on the other side of the room, landing on his feet.

"Spock?" He glanced around the room, trying to make out the Vulcan's shadow atop the towers. _Now where did he get to?_ He put his hands on his hips and tapped his foot against the floor. A shadow moved through the water, and he squinted to make it out.

Kirk did a double take when the figure stepped out of the darkness. Spock waded closer to the platform before stepping out of the water and coming to stand next to the captain. "Nice. _I_ have to soar across the lake of doom and _you_ get to wade through the kiddy pool."

Spock sighed. "I found no pleasure in it."

Kirk's tricorder beeped. "Hold that thought," he muttered, holding up his index finger. He hopped down into the water and splashed across the basin towards a platform on his right. He bent under two sparking wires and climbed a small set of stairs up to a doorway.

Bright lights emanated from a still-functioning computer terminal, illuminating the room. A high-backed triangular chair sat in front of it. "Hello? Anybody here?" Kirk tiptoed towards the chair and placed a hand on the top, whipping it around to face him.

"Ahh!" He stiffened at the sight of a limp Vulcan, slumped sideways in the chair.

Spock appeared by Kirk's side, uploading files from a communicator that lay on the floor nearby. He looked up at Kirk. "Do not be afraid, Captain. It is only a Vulcan woman, after all."

Kirk blushed, his fingers against her neck. "Got a pulse. Tagging her now." He stepped back as Spock stood up. "And I wasn't 'afraid', just startled, that's all." They headed through two sets of doors, leaving the woman behind to be retrieved later.

Just ahead, another broken body lay face down on the floor. Several panels from the wall next to him were loose, exposing the circuitry underneath. Kirk placed his hand on his stomach, his face paling. _Man, they slammed him against the_ wall _. That's gotta hurt._ He opened his mouth to mention it to Spock, but the pale lines around the first officer's mouth made him reconsider. He bent down and checked the man. _This one's worse, but stable._ Tagging him as well, they continued down the corridor.

 _"_ _Captain, you have reached another unpowered door."_ The dark containment door before them was, indeed, locked tight. _"Look around,"_ T'Mar continued. _"Can you see any power cells?"_

A dead Vulcan leaned against the wall in the shadows just below the empty socket. Kirk groaned. "Where are we going to find another power cell?"

"Perhaps we can retrieve a power cell from a functional socket," Spock suggested.

"Somehow, I don't think they'll miss it." Kirk surveyed the hall.

"Captain, I think I see a power cell in that laboratory." Spock pointed through a plate glass window at a darkened room on their right.

"Door's locked too. Great. So we need a power cell to _get_ the power cell." Kirk pressed his face against the glass. He saw Spock's reflection climb on top of a pile of black crates, one arm extended upwards. "What are you doing?"

"I can access the room through this maintenance tunnel." Kirk moved away from the window and joined Spock by the hole in the ceiling. "A boost, please."

Kirk made a stirrup with his hands and Spock stepped into it. With a thrust, he pushed the Vulcan up into the tunnel. "Hurry back."

Kirk returned to the window as several loud thumps indicated Spock's progress through the tunnel. After a few seconds, he dropped through an identical hole in the laboratory ceiling and moved towards the door, unlocking it. He planted his feet firmly on the ground and reached for the end of the cell. With a twist and a yank, it slid out of its socket, killing the lights and powering down all the lab equipment inside.

Spock cradled the heavy cell in his arms past Kirk. In his hurry, the Captain requested the obvious.

"Plug in the power cell, Spock."

Spock frowned. "That is _precisely_ what I am attempting to do, sir." He twisted the cell and the door hummed, lighting up as it activated.

"Door's open. Let's get moving." Kirk ran through the open door, Spock following, into a waiting turbolift.

Kirk put his head in his hands. "Ground floor," he barked.

"It will not move any faster if you shout at it," Spock reminded him in a clipped voice. His hands were folded behind his back in his usual stance, but he still appeared pale from the things he'd seen.

Kirk closed his eyes. "Sorry, Spock." He rubbed his forehead. "I don't blame you one bit. Seeing all that took a few years off my life, too."

Spock said nothing. The dead silence filled the turbolift until it shuddered to a stop.

 **...**

When they exited the building, they were not prepared for the view they would see.

The cityscape was dead quiet. Except for the winds whipping past their faces.

A large crane stood still amongst the skeletons of unfinished buildings in the silent capital. The open air deck that they stepped out onto overlooked the ocean and afforded a panoramic view of the work in progress that was New Vulcan. The air was hot and smelled of many things; blood, humidity, Gorn waste, smoke. Several forklifts and utility vehicles sat vacant in the warm sun. Several bodies of the deceased workers and civilians were haphazardly scattered here and there, many close to their vehicles they were formerly operating. Red and orange Vulcan flags and banners flew mournfully against the cloudy orange-yellow sky. The normally loud construction was now still, replaced by the eerie quiet left in the wake of the Gorn attack. Kirk took note of several areas of damage on the buildings. He looked back toward Spock, who was gazing out forlornly over the scene. He recognized the look on his friend's face as one he had seen before.

When Spock had appeared on the transporter pad, reaching in vain into the empty space for his mother's absent hand. His planet, his mother, and everything about him were gone. Kirk felt something in his chest drop.

 _Oh, Spock..._ Kirk looked on at the bereaved look in his first officer's eyes. This had to be bringing back the worst memories for him. The Vulcan kept his own thoughts to himself.

 _Our people cannot afford another tragedy..._ T'Mar's earlier comment rang in Kirk's ears, drowning out the silence on her comm.

Off to the left and about 150 feet away, a blue and gray, oval-shaped Vulcan ship lifted off of a landing deck with a whirring. The sounds of weapons fire. Bright orange projectiles sprayed at the ship as it moved from left to right.

A massive, copper coloured Gorn attack ship moved into view, passing by in pursuit of the vessel. The strange craft resembled a large winged insect, with several circular propulsion engines jutting slightly out of the back. It flew right in front of them, casting a shadow over much of the deck. A loud explosion signified that the Vulcan craft was jumping into warp, barely escaping a volley of shots from the ship. Other strange insect-like craft flew in the sky, patrolling about.

The two broke into a run and made their way down the deck toward the far end, dodging containers of supplies and various mechanical equipment. A large building off in the distance suffered cascading explosions near its base before crumbling into the ocean.

The ground started rumbling beneath their feet, causing both to stop in confusion. A massive, copper-coloured vessel rose until it was level with the concrete safety barrier surrounding the open construction deck. It resembled a massive ocean liner, but with points on either end. A snarling hiss came from below their view. Kirk shared a look with Spock. They raised their weapons.

Leaping onto the barrier, a "wiry" Gorn gripped it with its feet and clutched its weapon in both hands. The dark green creature resembled a velociraptor. Its tail waved back and forth, forming an 'S' shape. Two more identical Gorn jumped up behind the first on the ship's deck and growled.

"You've _got_ to be kidding me." Kirk inclined his body behind a cylindrical piece of equipment. Conveniently, it hid his crouched body perfectly and provided him a way to shoot. "Where are these things coming from?"

Spock took cover and did not answer. He used his tricorder to count the enemy combatants without looking up. There were four now. They may have come to stop the two of them, but it is likely they are focusing on securing the Helios device.

 _The device must still be here._ Spock considered that these Gorn were probably an armed guard of sorts. The Gorn were scrambling for cover, setting up all over in front of the Captain and First officer. Kirk placed the butt of the gun on his shoulder and pointed it at a Gorn dead ahead of him.

Aiming the end of the gun through some bars on the object, Kirk discharged his weapon. It took several bursts to fell the attacker, who fired back at Kirk. His shots ricocheted wildly off the cylinder in front of him.

 _PT-TUH!TUH!TUH!TUH!TUH!TUH!TUH!TUH!_ Blue energy projectiles screamed out of the pulse-cannon's barrel. Without thought he turned the pulse cannon on a second Gorn and fired. Shots deflected off the reptile's cover, missing the creature entirely.

 _POP! POP! POP!_ The Gorn shot back, several yellow beams going off in Spock's direction. He returned fire. Kirk took his chance when the Gorn was exposed. He re-aimed and unloaded on the Gorn, who groaned and collapsed. A third Gorn growled from off to the right.

 _KahKahKahKahKah!_ Kirk's eye brows lowered. _Is he laughing at me?_

"Captain!" The fourth Gorn fighter was running toward the Captain. Kirk turned his head. Spock jumped up from his hiding spot and sprayed the Gorn with a hail of fire. It growled loudly and collapsed a few feet in front of Kirk. The brown weapon it was carrying skittered away off to the side.

Kirk angled the pulse cannon toward the last Gorn. He fired. A shot his shoulder and arm.

"UGH!" Fire shot through his muscles. Despite the shock, he recovered and kept shooting. Spock joined in once he made sure the deck was otherwise clear. In the back of his mind, he thought of the possibility of more attackers joining in. One final volley sent the Gorn flying onto its back. It let out a final ascending screech as its head rolled to the side.

Slinging the gun over his back onto the holder, Kirk pulled out his phaser and walked forward in the direction of the large ship. Spock's caught movement in the corner of his eye. His head whipped to the right. A larger, more muscular Gorn with shield plates on its chest, arms and thighs raced by a few meters ahead, trying to make it to the massive Gorn ship. It stopped to look at the two of them and roared. It was the one that had grabbed the device earlier, Spock was sure of it.

"There he goes, let's get him!" Kirk walked forward, firing his phaser at the escaping Gorn beast. Spock sprinted past him and tore after the creature. He was determined to not let it get away. He could use the creature's knowledge to ascertain the location of the device.

With long, powerful strides, the Gorn ascended a crate leaned up against the barrier like a ramp. Pausing, it crouched, and then leapt up onto the ship as it began to move away. Spock tailed just behind it, launching off the ramp and through the air. He landed safely, tumbling onto the ship's deck and into a standing position.

Kirk sprinted desperately after them, trying to close the gap before the ship got too far away. He ran up the ramp and threw himself toward the parting vessel. Down below him was a straight drop into water. Time seemed to stop as he hovered in midair between the ship and the ledge.

He struck the edge of the ship with a grunt and slipped slowly off the side. Pain seared through his chest; his ribs felt like they were going to crack. The impact made him lose control of his phaser. It slid across the deck and out of reach.

A grunt. "Damn!"His fingers splayed against its ridged surface, grasping at the edge. He kicked his legs around in the air as he struggled to pull them up and over onto the ship, never quite lifting high enough. Grunting, he struggled to grasp a handhold, anything to keep from falling to the surface. For the second time in his life, he found himself at risk of becoming splattered on the surface of a Vulcan homeworld. Though he'd probably laugh later, he certainly wasn't in any mood to do so now.

"Captain!" Spock heard him and spun around, almost emotional. He was about to reach for the Captain's hand, when another Gorn like the ones they'd just eliminated restrained him from behind with its massive arms. Reaching his fingers in between his neck and his attacker's arms, Spock struggled to pry the arms off of him to no avail. The creature matched his height of six feet, and almost matched him in strength too.

Kirk watched helplessly as his friend fought to free himself. His gaze landed on his weapon, which lay just out of his reach. His stare flipped between the phaser and Spock.

Noticing the weapon, Spock thrust his body back, and with a kick of his left foot flicked the gun toward Kirk. Kirk caught it with one hand. As a gust of wind rushed through his hair, he tried to line up the shot. It was difficult; Spock kept getting in the way.

"Take...the...shot" Spock urged with a strangled voice. The Gorn smacked Spock across the face.

 _Get out of the way!_ Kirk grit his teeth together. His heart pounded in his chest. _Come on..._

The Gorn grabbed his friend and jerked him down, violently to the right. This was his chance.

 _Fire!_ A single red phaser beam struck the Gorn square in the chest. Its arms quivered, causing it to release Spock and stagger back, clutching the wound, dazed. Kirk climbed up quickly. Spock's eyes narrowed. His jaw popped as he stormed angrily in the Gorn's direction. He could feel the tormented cries of Vulcans echoing in his head. His blood boiled. His breathing became deep and laboured.

 _Kill it._ Spock would not resort to subduing this Gorn. His mind went black with anger.

Before the creature could recover, he grabbed it from behind and lifted it off the deck. The Gorn yelped in shock as Spock stomped toward the edge of the vessel, the creature firmly in his grasp.

"RAAAAHHH!" With a mighty heave, he threw the creature over the side. Kirk watched as it fell, eventually disappearing below the ocean waves. At the speed it hit the water, death was certain.

Spock stood looking over the edge. He shivered as the adrenaline rush wore off. Sensing the obvious tension, Kirk tried to lighten the mood. He smirked at his red-faced first officer.

"Won't have to worry about _him_ anymore."

Spock only met his gaze silently.

From atop a higher ledge, three more Gorn spilled out. They made a high-pitched screeching noise. Kirk and Spock lowered behind boxes on the ship's deck, their pulse cannons ready.

Kirk poked up and fired into the crowd. One reptilian creature went down; the other two jumped down and darted into cover. They exchanged fire with Spock while Kirk changed the clip.

"How are you doing on ammo?"

"Fine, sir!" Spock pressed his lips together.

Another Gorn screeched and fell from Spock's attack. Kirk sighed with relief. The Vulcan moved like lightning, locking onto a third and pumped energy into it. Return shots clipped the edge of the box, making the Vulcan flinch and lower down. He jolted back up and let off a round. It collapsed behind a box.

To his right, Kirk saw another large vessel like the one they stood on veering toward them. It gave off a loud, low whine as it tilted over on its side in midair.

 _That's not good._

 _BANG!_ Sparks flew. Metal struck metal, causing both ships to vibrate, and knocking both officers off balance. Spock flipped over and fell on his side; Kirk put a hand down to keep his balance. A trio of Gorn hissed with pleasure as they struggled to regain their footing.

The trio of aliens bounded up onto the ship to confront them. Steadying themselves, Kirk and Spock pelted them with pulse fire before they could get into cover. Overwhelmed and barely able to return fire, the wounded Gorn fired back a few stray shots before flopping over side by side. Kirk came out from behind a box and finished off the last screeching Gorn. He drew in several ragged breaths as he looked around. _Now, how to get down from here..._

A low, thunderous rumble sounded from the neighbouring ship. It slowly pulled back and turned to become perpendicular with them. At its nose, energy amalgamated together into a single glowing orange orb. Kirk faced it, mesmerized.

An ascending buzzing noise. _A weapon of some kind._ Spock's jaw dropped as saw it pointed right at his Captain; his friend. His lips parted as the horrible realisation dawned on him.

"CAPTAIN!" He sprinted and dove head-long into Kirk, grabbing him and sending the two tumbling away across the ridged deck.

 _SHK-TOW! SHK-TOW!SHK-TOW!_

The shots blasted a massive hole in the side of the vessel, sending debris flying everywhere. The concussive force pummelled the officers, knocking them both down.

The ship hovered for a moment before spiralling downwards with a loud groan.

Kirk tried to sit up groggily. His vision blurred. He could feel a rush of wind pass over him. The deck began to tilt forward, rolling him and Spock over to the edge.

He swallowed and tried to call out to Spock, but his throat caught. He could feel his body become weightless.

The ship pitched forward, dropping like a stone toward a large glass and metal dome. Spock arched his back and rolled through the air. He couldn't see the Captain. His mind spun in confusion.

 _Nyota..._ He could almost feel the cool touch of her hand on his face. Possibly for the last time.

Kirk's consciousness began to slip away. _Is this what it felt like, Dad? To die?_ A tear welled in his eye.

He curled up slightly, on instinct. Nausea swirled his stomach. This was it. All of it was over; his career, his life, his hopes and dreams. He would not even get to say goodbye to Pike, or any of his friends. It would be only seconds before his body hit the ground, and it would all be gone. _Is this really how I'm going to die? Falling from the sky with my first officer?_ He had evaded death so many times just a year ago during Nero's attack. Now he'd fall victim to _this._

The world spun. Blinding white light filled his view.

He flailed, but felt nothing.

 _CRASH!_ The Gorn ship hit the building with incredible force. The glass shattered and the metal frame snapped.

Kirk's head snapped back. His vision went dark.

Spock felt a slamming force at his side. And then nothing at all.

 **...**

 _Stardate 2259.32_

 _USS Enterprise - Bridge_

 _"_ _Personal log, Ensign Pavel Chekov. I feel terrible for the Vulcan people. First their homeworld is destroyed, and now their new colony is under attack. I cannot imagine how Commander Spock must feel. He never shows any hint of emotion...even less than he did before Vulcan was lost. But I am sure these events must weigh on him. Not even Lieutenant Uhura has coaxed a smile from him. His heart is heavy. I can only hope he finds relief soon."_

Ensign Chekov poured over his console, searching for two heat signatures he desperately wanted to see – Captain Kirk and First officer Spock. There was no sign of them.

"I _still_ can't find them. After that wessel crash landed, I lost their signals." His heart sank. _Not again._ As he surveyed the destruction on the planet below, tears began to brim his eyes. He had never thought he'd be a witness to one Vulcan tragedy, let alone two. The young man's heart ached for the lost, hurting people down there. "They fell from considerable height."

 _Sigh._ "Keep trying, Chekov. We'll _find_ them." Sulu bit his lip and looked down at his screen, searching for anything that could indicate where the two had gone. He began to worry about the chances of finding them among the wreckage.

Lieutenant Uhura watched the screen with a vacant stare from her station. Her heart raced as she thought of all the things that could have happened to them. Pressing the ear piece back in her ear, she turned back to her console.

"T'Mar, is there anything coming through on your end?"

 _"_ _No."_ T'Mar answered despondently. _"I lost contact with the Captain and Spock when you did."_

"What are the chances that they're...alive?" Her voice hesitated.

 _"_ _While I am inclined to be positive, I do not want to give you false hope. I will say it's unlikely that they have escaped this incident unharmed."_ T'Mar tried to put it delicately.

"I know Spock, and the Captain. You know them. If anyone can find a way out of this, it's them."

 _"_ _Yes. They are very capable officers."_

Doctor McCoy paced back and forth, arms crossed. He let out a long sigh. A shiver travelled up his spine, and he gritted his teeth together.

 _Why does this always happen to you? Why does this always happen to_ me?

He and the Captain were as close as brothers, but that didn't stop them from seeing things very differently. Bones kept warning him about danger, but Kirk nevertheless seemed to find his way into volatile situations anyway. McCoy did not know how much of Kirk's recklessness he could take, but he'd gladly suffer another 'lighten up, Bones' if it meant he and Spock were back safe. Every minute that passed made the situation seem grimmer.

Chief Engineer Scott sat up straight in the Captain's chair, gripping the arm rests. He looked out the view screen at the planet rotating harmlessly below.

"Mister Cole, please tell me you've got good news."

The young red-shirt walked by carrying his electronic PADD. He handed it to Mister Scott. "Nothing. Sorry sir, all scans of the alien ships turned up no results."

"I've found nothing, either." A female science officer in a blue uniform turned briefly away from her station off to the side of the bridge. Scotty acknowledged her with a nod.

"Thank you, Ms. Thompson." He wasn't expecting anything anyways.

Out there, somewhere on the planet below, Spock and Captain Kirk were in trouble. Uhura sat with her head tilted slightly down. She licked her lips.

"We're going to need to send out a search party for them. I'm not getting any responses."

 _"_ _No, do not do that immediately."_ T'Mar began. _"That would only place more members of your crew at risk. Your Captain would not want that. I am down here, so it is logical to send me. Besides that, I also know the area better than anyone on board."_

"Thank you, T'Mar. Be careful." Uhura cautioned. More than anything she wanted some assurance that the others were okay.

 _"_ _They risked their lives to save my father, the station and the base, and have rescued many injured Vulcans."_ T'Mar got up from her chair and made her way to the door. _"My thanks, Lieutenant."_

 _"_ _It is the least that we can do."_

 **...**

 _Stardate 2259.32_

 _New Vulcan - Great Hall_

Hollow, loud ringing filled Kirk's head.

 _What happened?_

Pain woke him up a little more.

Little stabbing pains all over his body. Fire seared his thigh.

 _Pain's good, right?_ He tried to think. _You don't hurt if you're dead._

He squinted. At first, a tinny ringing sound blocked out most of his hearing. Gradually, it dissipated.

He stretched his hands out in front of his face, groaning. Lifting his head, he tried to see where he was. Though damaged, he knew this was still New Vulcan. The air was smoky and smelled strange; the floor and giant staircases around the hall's periphery were littered with debris. The entire building creaked and groaned under the weight of the giant, dead ship sticking through the large ceiling dome. The rushing air made it more obvious how quiet it was in the wake of the crash. Ashes and more debris continued to rain down. Small fires burned in different areas of the floor.

 _Where is Spock? And my gun?_ He looked around but saw nothing except Vulcan decor.

Struggling to get to his feet, he pressed his hands to the ground and pushed off slowly. He shifted his legs into a position where he could stand. His first try didn't work; his arms felt like rubber. With a second shove of the floor, he placed a knee under his weight to support himself.

 _HEE-AH!_ A lean, muscular Gorn crept closer to him. It tilted his ugly head to the side, as though considering its potential victim. Kirk's jaw hung slack, staring right into its eyes. His mind raced to find a solution.

 _Not good._ The Gorn grasped its gun, a menacing smile on its face.

 **...**

The world still spun.

 _Illogical._ He had to focus his senses.

 _Where am I?_

Spock didn't know exactly how he ended up on his hands and knees.

His clothes were shredded and ashen. Green blood leaked out from his wounds. Brushing himself off, he assessed his pain level. _I am not too badly injured. But the Captain...this is his blood..._

He straightened up, trying to see where he was. He head swam, finally feeling the concussive effects of the crash. Regaining his composure, he saw several dead Gorn near him, but no sign of Kirk.

A growl. He got to the railing of the upper level and looked down into the center of the room. To his right, the large vessel stuck through the ceiling nose first.

 _There._ Captain Kirk lay on the floor, weak and injured. No match for the Gorn that approached him. Pulling the gun off his back, he placed it on the rail to help steady his shot. He closed an eye.

And fired. The round hit the Gorn with perfect accuracy. It groaned and flopped over just beside the wounded Captain.

 **...**

He struggled to stand quickly. His arms wind-milled as he stood up.

White hot fire shot through his thigh and rocketed up into his torso. He staggered back a few steps and fell on his backside, groaning louder.

"Ahh, my leg...I can't move." As if they'd heard that someone was vulnerable, three Gorn swooped in through a door like vultures just in front of him. Kirk reached down instinctively at his waist, relieved to still feel his phaser in its holster. _At least that hasn't gone wrong._ He switched it up to kill from its default stun setting. Leaning onto one sore hip, the Captain pulled it out and fired crimson beams at his attackers. Multiple shots blasted out in quick succession. With a few quick shots, the first reptile was hit, sending blood flying.

Spock flew down the winding staircase, two or three steps at a time, to the lower floor. Shards of glass and metal fragments crunched under his feet. He reached for his communicator.

"I am on my way." Kirk sighed, but refocused and kept firing. Spock's voice never sounded so good to him.

Spock switched channels on his comm. "T'Mar, I have found the Captain. He is incapacitated, but alive."

 _"_ _I will alert the Enterprise. What is your status?"_ T'Mar waited for a response.

"Remarkably, I am well." Shutting the comm off, he tore around several large pieces of broken plaster and rock.

"Ugh, I can't walk on it."Kirk could feel his broken bone shift in his leg. White hot pain sliced into his thigh. Shifting his cross hairs between two Gorn, he shot the ground around them. With pinpoint accuracy, he hit the two in quick succession. Before a third could fire its weapon, Spock raced in beside his injured Captain and dropped to one knee, raising his own. As he fired at the broken rail and concrete, the Gorn screamed, convulsed as multiple projectiles hit their mark. It flew back with a growl.

"Are you alright, sir?" Spock's face showed concern. Kirk groaned, clutching his bleeding limb.

"Yeah, just great. Help me up!"

 _Sarcasm._ Spock reached down and hauled Kirk up. The Captain rested an arm on his first officer's shoulder, taking weight off of the injured leg. Spock clicked his comm back on with a free hand. "T'Mar, where is the nearest medical facility?"

T'Mar searched a schematic of the great hall. _"There is a medical facility nearby. I will mark it on your tricorder."_

The doors leading into the medbay opened. An armed Gorn stepped out. Within seconds, multiple shots whizzed by the two officers limping toward it. Kirk raised his free arm, weapon in hand and let off a round of red bolts. The Gorn recoiled repeated and dropped to the floor.

Kirk could feel pain shoot up his leg with every step. He gritted his teeth and pursed his lips to contain a gasp. "You think you could you pick up the pace, Spock?" he growled. Spock took a deep breath and sped up his pace.

Kirk looked down at the floor. Under a small glass dome, several species of Vulcan plant life grew. The floor around the room's center was tiled in a deep red. _Doesn't work._ Nothing could take his mind off the pain.

A small puff of smoke came from the bottom of the doors ahead. The center began to unlock.

 _Dammit!_ Kirk raised his arm and glared at the opening doors. A single armed Gorn, identical to the last, made a noise that showed it was surprised to see them there.

Kirk squeezed the phaser's trigger and fired until the phaser locked from overheating. The Gorn recoiled several times and flew backwards, dead, before it could raise its own gun.

 _Oh, great. Now there's stairs I've got to deal with._ Kirk limped on his friend's shoulder down the glass-floored hall into the medbay. Spock's hurried pace now felt even worse than before. Pain was more frequently shooting through him. "Take it easy, Spock!"

Holding back from pointing out his injured captain's hypocrisy, he remained firm in his decision to hurry. "The sooner we get you to medbay, the sooner we can heal that leg."

The medbay itself was bright and fully functioning. Red, blue and orange curve-shaped medical displays hovered on and above the console screens. Much like everything else that was Vulcan, it was circular.

T'Mar noticed strange signatures approaching. She wheeled back over to her comm. _"You should hurry; I am detecting more Gorn approaching your location."_

"There's a gurney over there..." Kirk pointed to the center of the room, where a single, vacant, white bed sat with consoles all around it. Behind was a large screen.

T'Mar confirmed her fear. There were several Gorn moving through the hall. _"More creatures are approaching your position."_

"Captain I will not be able to repair your leg and hold of the creatures at the same time."

"Just fix my leg, Spock. I'll hold them off." Spock reached an arm under Kirk's legs and helped him up into a prone position on the bed. Kirk shifted to get as comfortable as he could and leaned on an elbow. He pointed his arm past a bent knee. His phaser aimed at the door where any Gorn would have to pass through.

"Ugh...you're enjoying this, aren't you?"

Spock tapped a keyboard, bringing the screen behind Kirk's head to life. An image of the break in Kirk's leg came on. It was a long but narrow fracture. Not too bad, but needed attention. At least none of the bones chipped or shattered. Spock carefully moved the osteogenic stimulator's laser over the broken region of his captain's leg. "I assure you that I am not." The hurried Vulcan knew the rapidly knitting bones and the disinfecting of the outer wound would cause considerable pain to the recipient.

"This may-"

"AHHH, damn it!" His whole leg smarted; the pain rippled all the way up through Kirk's arm.

"-hurt." Spock attempted to finish his job carefully, but slower. The door to the room opened, and two Gorn burst in. Kirk's arm moved as if automatically and opened fire, shattering the glass partitions in the circular surrounding rail. A few shots deflected off the bed and the consoles around Kirk. One barely missed him. Kirk's red phaser shots hit the two creatures several times before dropping them.

A third Gorn entered. Spock quickly finished his work and checked the leg. It was completely healed, or at least enough to function. Kirk directed his fire at the reptile and sent it staggering.

"I believe you should now be able to stand."

Kirk slid off and applied weight to his limb. The pain had subsided. He smiled down at his leg; the pant leg was torn and dried blood still covered a good section, but it was fine otherwise. "Good as new. Let's get out of here."Kirk aimed and let off another round, downing the creature.

"Captain, we should find a way outside." Even as he said it, Spock searched the room with his eyes.

 _"_ _I am on my way to your location."_ T'Mar's voice had regained its vigour and confidence.

"It is too dangerous. Stay where you are, is that understood?" Kirk waited. There was no response. "T'Mar?!"

"I would assume that she has disobeyed your request, Captain." Spock raised an eyebrow and looked at his Captain's frustrated glare.

"Not surprised, she _is_ Vulcan." He reached down among the dead Gorn and retrieved a weapon from them. Looking over it briefly, he clutched it close and ran out.

Spock frowned at the comment and followed his Captain out into the great hall. Under a hail of fire, he hid behind large pieces of debris. Kirk dodged left and right until he found cover of his own. With a hand down on the top edge he flipped over assorted debris and down out of sight.

 _12 o'clock._ Pointing his gun out, he locked on and fired.

 _One down._ He reloaded and aimed.

 _2 o'clock._ Yellow beams hit the rails and floor, causing Kirk's breath to catch.

 _Ftew-tew-tew! Ftew-tew-tew! Ftew-tew-tew!_

He looked over again. Blue bolts from Spock's Vulcan repeater hit the Gorn over and over. _That's it! Draw his fire!_ Yellow beams shot back from his rifle and took down the confused Gorn. _Two down._

"They're coming around!" Kirk shouted over the rapid firing noises.

"We cannot let them get around us." As the words left Spock's mouth, his eyes caught on the abstract statues in the room's center, among structural designs and plant fixtures. Memorials dedicated in memory.

The Vulcan scientist Sh'Tok, the last acting administrator of the Vulcan science academy. T'Par, the Chief scientist of the Vulcan High Council prior to the destruction of Vulcan. A flicker crossed Spock's eyes, before the sound of gunfire pulled him back to the present.

He fired on a creature behind a console. It manoeuvred back and forth; avoid shots but unable to get any off itself. Spock stopped and dropped out of sight. _One, two, three, four, five..._

The Gorn popped up, curious to see if Spock had died from another hit. It fired in his direction. Spock whipped up and held the trigger, shocking the enemy and striking him down with speed and lethal accuracy.

A final Gorn proved hard to get. It was bent on killing the two before they got out of the room. Kirk couldn't wait while it lurked behind the debris. He jumped out of hiding and vaulted over a railing down to the lower center.

Spock watched Kirk run by as yellow beams shot out toward him. His eyebrows leapt towards his bangs as he watched the captain narrowly dodge a powerful blast, sliding into the dust like a base runner, his gun never quieting as he did so. The Vulcan fired off several quick shots in order to give Kirk enough time to slip behind a chunk of ceiling and drop down out of range. Spock shook his head. _I will never understand the human impulse to place oneself in harm's way._

His chest heaving, Kirk listened carefully to the sounds around him. Recalling his Starfleet combat training, he tried to pinpoint the lone attacker.

A sound of feet pattering. A growl. _1 o'clock!_

He put his weapon back up over the barrier and railed on the Gorn. Spock did the same. It twisted around and spilled out over the floor.

Jogging up the stairs, Kirk made his way over to one of the dead Gorn retrieved the spare ammunition from an un-emptied weapon for his. Detaching the bottom half on one end, he jammed the energy pack into his rifle.

"The recharge port is right there." Spock pointed out. Kirk brushed him off and ignored it. He slung the weapon onto his back into the hold and grabbed the door.

"Help me get this open." The two yanked the doors apart and walked out. In the corridor, a slightly frazzled T'Mar stood waiting for them in the small lobby leading outside. There were two benches on either side, curving outward. Her hair was mussed and she had burn marks on her white and black dress uniform.

"Why didn't you listen to me back there?" Kirk inquired. He and Spock caught their breath.

"Spock, Kirk. This way. These Gorn have completely infested our colony." She stared over her shoulder intently at the door, clenching her fists at her sides. The Starfleet officers raced by her and out the door.

 _POP! POP! POP!_

Outside the front doors, multiple Gorn fighters fired at them from the circular landing deck a few feet away from the foot of the stairs. Once again, packed crates and supplies provided sufficient cover for them. The brightness of the sunlight blocked their view and made spotting the enemy fighters difficult. They quickly squatted down below the concrete rails at the top of the long, wide stairs. Kirk didn't want to be here long; if he could get a free moment, he would like to get contact with his ship.

Poking up, he fired on the creature on his left with his Gorn assault rifle. Five quick pops sent it flying backwards. Spock took down the second behind a low rectangular box with his pulse cannon. A third aimed and fired, hitting Kirk in the arm. His arm flew back and his torso twisted around. He reached back up and fired again. The rifle recoiled back sharply with ever shot. The Gorn groaned and dropped down.

Spock and Kirk ran down the stairs. Turning right, the Captain made his way toward the last Gorn. It was toying with its jammed rifle behind a tall crate. Kirk stopped feet away and raised his weapon to fire. The creature heard his steps and whipped around, only to receive the full power of the assault rifle's fire.

 _POP! POP! POP! POP! POP!_ The Gorn dropped its gun and flew backward and over a railing into the ocean below the deck. After he took in a breath, Kirk ran in and slammed his back into a line of low crates lined up along the edge of the deck. The next one over was crawling with Gorn, and more continued to run in. They all fired on Kirk and Spock's location.

"Scotty, get us out of here!" A desperate Kirk shouted, lifting and shooting back at the reptiles. Just as he dropped down, Spock opened fire. The sounds of all the shooting was deafening.

From the safety of the _Enterprise_ , Scotty tapped at the blue screen and searched for the two officers and the Vulcan woman. Finding their signatures, he nodded and leaned toward his comm. The interference only slightly distorted their patterns. Despite the chaos down below, the engineer did not sound the slightest bit worried.

He squinted, studying the signal strength, calculations whirring through his head. _"Will do, sir. Can you move forward 15 meters?"_

From the planet, Kirk quickly looked around before dropping down below his cover. There were at least six Gorn and more coming. "No good, I have a big wall of _GREEN_ dead ahead." He poked up and took down two Gorn in quick succession. Kirk's body tensed.

Still not phased, Scott pressed on. _"Well, can you move back, then?"_

Kirk was attempting to do two things: not get hit, and not get mad at his engineer. Both were extremely difficult. Neither he nor Spock dared to move back. T'Mar could, possibly, but in the shower of gun fire moving from their only protection didn't seem like a good idea.

"Not so much!"Kirk shouted into his pickup. He was _really_ starting to hate that calm tone of Scotty's at the moment.

 _"_ _I don't know what you two are doing down there, but my job involves very complex formulas and precise calculations. This-"_

None of them had time. The excited captain knew the Gorn were getting closer and more accurate. He shut his eyes, moving his head down to shout louder.

"SCOTTY! WE'RE PINNED IN, DO IT NOW!" His ammo was getting low and he was getting frustrated.

Now Scott got the message. _"Aye, aye, Captain!"_ The three started to disappear in a golden swirl of energy. Spock shut his eyes, temporarily mobility. That was normal. It was taking long to lose consciousness. That was _not_ normal.

The beam rapidly dissipated. They were still there. Kirk and Spock shared a look and sighed. Unarmed, T'Mar hid nearby. She too, was growing worried about their position and circumstances. The Gorn continued firing.

 _"_ _There's too much interference. I can't get a lock on you!"_ Scotty's hand hovered over the console, his other on a joystick. He searched for another way to strengthen the transporter's feed and beam the three up in one piece. The dematerialization process had to go through.

Kirk fired at more Gorn, giving Spock time to reload. This wasn't going to work forever. To take out the huge numbers of enemies, two hand phasers and a pulse cannon wouldn't hold them back.

"Then we need a bigger gun. Scotty, prepare torpedoes, fire on my mark!" An air strike would certainly help. Spock clutched his Vulcan repeater. It whined as a small flicker of blue energy built up. Pulling the trigger, Spock sent a pulse of energy into a Gorn's chest, exploding and knocking it off a large box to the deck below. Two more raced in to take its place.

Forget the transporter, Scotty was losing visual on _everything_. _"Love to, Captain, but I can't see a thing down there. I'm gonna need a little help."_

 _The tricorder; it has a transponder signal!_ "Then we'll paint you a target!"

 _"_ _Aye sir!"_

"Mister Scott, need I remind you that the situation is critical, time is of the essence." Spock said, his voice strained. The Gorn shots were getting closer and some grazed the two hiding officers.

Kirk put down his comm and focused on his tricorder screen. A grid appeared in front of an illuminated outline of the landing deck. Several bright green Gorn silhouettes scrambled about. He zeroed in on the center of the deck to maximize damage.

A shot whizzed over his head, singing his hair. _Hurry up!_ He watched as the blue column contracted, fading to orange and red as in focused on the center. As soon as it locked, a message appeared on his screen; TARGET LOCKED. It beeped twice and deflected a signal off the coordinates to the _Enterprise_.

Kirk dropped his tricorder and grabbed his comm. _"FIRE NOW!"_

 **...**

Scotty pumped a fist and clicked his comm over to contact the bridge. "Mister Sulu, you've got the coordinates. Lock and load!"

Sulu armed the torpedoes and locked onto the coordinates forwarded to him from Scott. His mouth drew taut. "I see it, firing now!" Below the _Enterprise_ 's saucer section, along the neck of the ship, the main forward torpedo bay opened.

All eyes were on the main monitor's display. The flickering image showed three good guys and multiple creatures opposite them, firing. Hearts raced and muscles tensed as they awaited the fate of their Captain and First officer.

From orbit of New Vulcan, the _Enterprise_ opened fire. Several glowing blue torpedoes rocketed downward toward the planet's surface, bearing in on the Gorn-infested deck below. All eyes on the bridge watched the rapidly descending distance meter on forward screen. Sulu made confirmation on his instrumentation.

 **...**

Kirk watched the sky, eagerly awaiting backup. Within moments, several blue lights appeared, coming through the clouds. Each travelled at incredible speed. A faint whistling rapidly became loud.

 _BANG! CRASH! BOOM!_

In less than a second, the torpedoes hit the deck with explosive force, sending Gorn pieces flying everywhere. The deck exploded with a blue and yellow flash; massive pieces of asphalt and debris flew into the air, scattering and raining down around everywhere. The crates and supplies fragmented. After the onslaught ceased, the circular landing pad was a reduced to a smouldering crater of debris. Black smoke rose up from the gaping hole.

Three massive winged ships came roaring in, hovering above the destroyed deck. Spock pointed back toward the buildings front door.

"Captain, they are beaming down reinforcements! In the Great Hall!" The two rushed over and disappeared below a concrete rail with T'Mar. They watched as the doors exploded, sending bits of metal flying like shrapnel everywhere. Gorn poured out of the newly created hole.

 _Like fish in a barrel._ Only one could fit out of the door at a time. Kirk pointed his weapon and wreaked havoc on the Gorn that rushed out. One by one, they flew back against the stairs and along the ground in front of the doors. Kirk was determined to keep them at bay. Shots came in and went out of the hole, but Kirk held the obvious advantage, taking down one after another.

Scotty's voice came over the comm. _"Captain, the interference is clearing up; I've got a lock on you."_ All _three_ of them. His hand waited tentatively over the controls, awaiting go ahead from his commanding officer.

 _The interference._ T'Mar's voice took on a new degree of worry. "That means they are leaving the planet with the Helios device." Kirk pulled back his rifle.

"Scotty, energize!" A few more enemy fighters raced out of the hole, all alike and armed with assault rifles. The three officers disappeared into swirling light and energy in an ascending whine.


	6. Chapter 6

_Chapter 4_

 _Stardate 2259.32_

 _USS Enterprise – Transporter Room 3_

Scotty took off his head set and tossed it on the console with a clatter. The red steps changed back to blue, indicating it was safe to enter without affecting the beaming process. Standing up from the chair, he nodded at the two officers next to him and ran up to the circular alcove at the back of the room.

"Sir, that was bloody close!" He paused to look at the two of them.

"You're telling me; one of them almost took my head off!" Kirk said with a rakish grin, smoothing his hair back. The Scot almost seemed more out of breath than they were.

"I got the word from Mister Sulu. Those beasties were blown to kingdom come! We've got more leaving the planet in a hurry."His mouth gaped open and his eyes bugged out, looking at the ripped, dirty uniforms. They had small cuts and scrapes. Kirk limped somewhat, and had dirt and debris specks in his hair. Spock looked as if he'd run through a tornado. A couple of times.

"You two look like crap!" He then looked at T'Mar. " _You_ not so much, lassie." Her lips parted slightly, as though to answer, but didn't.

The chief would have continued if he didn't notice the strange weapon in Kirk's arms. "What _is_ that thing you've got there?"

"A Gorn weapon. Here, you can study it. Enjoy." He shoved the rifle into the engineer's arms.

Spock gestured toward the door. "We must get to our stations. This way."

They all left and walked down the hall. While the Vulcans walked on ahead, discussing something in low tones, Scotty began informing Kirk of the situation matching the Captain stride for stride.

"New Vulcan isn't as badly damaged as we thought, sir. We chased them out before they could _really_ do a number on it. Doctor McCoy says he got some of the injured Vulcans, and that he hasn't the foggiest what to do with their virus, but they are stable. The _Enterprise_ hasn't sustained any damage. We're ready to go as soon as you-"

Kirk stopped and wheeled around, putting hands on his chief's shoulder. "Scotty, do what you do best. I need you in engineering holding down the fort."

Scotty pursed his lips and nodded. "Aye, sir. I'll get right down there."

"Oh, Scotty?" Kirk whipped around holding up a hand. "What did you do to my phaser? It's amazing."

"I improved everything. Reduced recoil, improved accuracy and reload speed, quicker stun-to-kill phase shift, projectile enhancements, and even a bio signature, so only _you_ can use it."

Kirk nodded quickly, turning to catch up with the two Vulcans. "Thank you. Prepare yourself; we're not letting those guys get away."

"I'll give you all the power you want, and then some." Scotty turned the corner and raced down to main engineering section.

The three left jogged quickly toward a turbo lift. "We've got to get that device back, and your dad."Kirk glanced over his shoulder at T'Mar.

"If they are attempting an escape, we do not have much time." T'Mar's lips stayed parted in worry. "The Helios device must _still_ be our focus; it poses the biggest threat to the galaxy. My father can be rescued after; he would want it that way."

"He's brave, but if I had to choose, I think I'd go for Surok first." Kirk replied firmly. They entered the turbolift single file.

"Bridge!" The doors shut and whisked them toward the bridge.

"Your father must have been taken because of his knowledge of how the device is operated. It would be difficult to harness its power if they had no idea how to activate it." Spock clasped his hands behind his back. The doors slid open with a whoosh.

"Keptin on the bridge!" Chekov shouted before turning back to his console. Everyone on deck sat up straighter and prepared to receive orders.

Kirk jogged out toward his Captain's chair; Spock did the same toward his station and sat down. T'Mar walked quickly over to Lieutenant Uhura's comm station.

"Full power, Mister Sulu. We need to disable that ship." Kirk settled in his chair.

"Aye, sir!" Sulu nodded and got to work, diverting power to engines and forward shielding. On his side, he noticed weapons already being primed from engineering.

Spock turned his chair around to face the Captain, who turned to look over his shoulder. "Captain, the enemy ships are almost in range." Spock whirled back to monitor the activity, watching several glowing red dots moving in at high speeds.

Kirk nodded and moved his glance over to the comm station. "Lieutenant Uhura, open hailing frequencies."

There was a brief pause. "No response, sir." She shook her head.

Kirk faced back to the view screen. "Ah, I don't feel like talking anyway. Sulu, Chekov; prepare to engage hostiles." The main view screen showed the vast space-time rip. It was composed of brilliant pink and black clouds circling into a large, glowing gold orb of light. Kirk focused his gaze on the huge brown and dull yellow vessel heading toward it. The ship was shaped like an eye with a long bar-shaped hull coming to a point on the bottom. Dozens of tiny winged, circular and cone-shaped vessels surrounded mother ship, appearing like a swarm of insects.

"Aye aye." Sulu acknowledged.

"Yes sir." Chekov called back.

Spock's eyes flew over the colourful displays. He could see among the alien life signs, there was a familiar one. "Captain, sensors indicate a Vulcan life sign on the larger enemy ship."

T'Mar looked at the scan from where she was, but didn't need to confirm with what she saw. She knew it was him. _Father._

"It is Surok. Captain, I would advise a more cautious approach."

Kirk sat, listening to them but not looking. "Noted." He rolled it over in his mind, considering how he would handle this _and_ get the Vulcan scientist back.

Outside the _Enterprise_ , the massive brown vessel accelerated past them. Yellow plasma clouds sprayed out from a large jet on the back. Greenish-black smoke spilled out from near the bottom, though Kirk could tell this wasn't a sign of damage.

"Enemy fighters within range, Captain." Chekov grew excited, shouting to his commanding officer behind him without taking his eyes off the console. Suddenly, he saw a change in the readings. The enemies weren't fleeing. Raising his voice, the navigator shouted back. "Captain; enemy ships changing course. They're heading towards us!"

"Captain, we should raise shields to maximum." Spock said, evenly but quickly.

"Sulu, raise shields. Give them all we got." Kirk reiterated.

In engineering, Scotty cracked his cracked his knuckles and tapped the wall intercom pickup. "Phaser banks fully charged, Captain. Ready when you are."

"Hold weapons. Fire _only_ on my mark."

Uhura watched the incoming ships intensely. "Fighters approaching in 3...2...1..."

"FIRE!" Kirk shouted. Sulu and Chekov leaned forward and brought up the interface on their consoles. Scanners located two winged fighter ships, incoming fast. Sulu's fingers slid over the instrumentation to raised shields, repelling the shots firing in on them. The invisible field around the ship blinked as energy beams dissipated.

The _Enterprise_ jolted slightly and rumbled and yellow beams deflected of the shielding around the _Enterprise_ 's hull. As soon as the shots stopped, Chekov and Sulu returned fire. A blue beam shot out, exploding one attacker in a blue flashed; a second later, crimson bolts flew out of one of the twelve phaser turrets and obliterated the other ship.

It was only seconds before two more ships dropped from warp in a blink of light. Shots started grazing the hull with a barrage before the shields could get back to full power.

Kirk gripped the arm rests as the ship shook. "Status?"

Spock's head snapped up. "Only minor damage. Hull strength at ninety-six percent, Captain."

Chekov and Sulu dispatched with the other two attackers quickly, flooding both of them with a hail of red bursts."Keptin, shields are down a few percent, but I don't think it's anything to worry about."

The space between Kirk's eyebrows shrunk. The attacking ships were weak; they obviously made very little attempts to protect themselves. It was as though they were testing, or taunting them. "That damn ship is out there taking shots at us!"

Spock's voice was resolute and stiff. "I recommend focusing all weapon fire on its vital points, Captain."

Kirk nodded toward Chekov. "You heard him." Chekov located a large, circular ship the appeared to have a fire burning in its core. He locked onto the center and he and Sulu fired phasers and torpedoes. To his satisfaction, the vessel exploded, sending sparks and debris flying in different directions. He sighed with relief, but it was only temporary. Stunned, he checked his instruments to see if the scans were accurate.

"I'm seeing a dramatic increase in enemy counts, sir." Four winged ships came in from the rear and the right; four cone and circle shaped ships flew in from the front. Each was emitting glowing blue projectiles, similar to phasers.

Scotty clenched and unclenched his hands, preparing for the worst. _"Then let's get this over with."Yeah! Let's blast these beasties out of the sky._

"Indeed." Spock said, hearing the words from the Captain's chair comm. He, too, was not against taking out every Gorn ship that got in their way.

"You take the ships; I'll handle their 'torpedoes'." Sulu said quickly to his Conn partner, locking onto the projectiles coming at them from above. They struggled to maintain shields and fire at the attackers at the same time. At their side, shots rang off the hull, hitting with loud crashes. The shields returned quickly, but began draining as blue projectiles made contact. Sulu made the call and dropped shields, firing at the first two ships coming toward the _Enterprise_ from behind. They exploded one after the next, but the other two took the chance to commence firing from the left. Chekov pulled the shields back up to repel as much as he could; his brilliant mind raced to compensate and divert power to keep them up while still firing shots.

Chekov locked torpedoes and phasers on one of the cone-shaped emitters, destroying it after several bursts of fire hit their mark, again with the accuracy that gave Kirk full confidence in him.

Sulu dropped shields again, massacring the other two ships with blue beams; Chekov shot off red bolts that hit a winged ship square and blue in to pieces. He glanced down to see the damage was now becoming concerning on several sections of the hull. _This isn't going to work; we can't take too much of this._

 _Target lock._ It would be extremely difficult with the interference, but it could be done, if he and Sulu were fast enough. He looked over at the dark-haired lieutenant, who appeared to think the same thing.

"I've got to get a lock on those ships. Our shields need time to recover." Chekov said worriedly.

"Try it, but be quick. We've got more incoming tangos." Sulu continued tapping away at his display. Chekov powered both phaser banks and torpedoes, and prepared to fire. He only had seconds. The young Russian's hands and eyes flew back and forth across the display, locking onto all three ships.

 _5...4...3...2... The torpedoes!_ He reached across the console and reconfigured the firing process to lock onto the cloud of incoming projectiles. The weapons fired just as he finished, eliminating the ships. They had only a couple of seconds to rest. The computer registered another incoming from above. Sulu's heart jumped; he bit down hard and put the shields up, but they weren't enough to repel the spear-head shaped small craft from smashing into the top of the _Enterprise_ 's saucer section.

The ship rocked forward, rumbling. Stressed beyond normal expectations, both metal hull plating and frantic crewmembers struggled to resist the brunt of the attack. Crew members on the bridge lurched forward or back in their seats, depending on how they were seated when the first volley hit home. Kirk pitched forward, putting his face between his knees. Sparks rained from the ceiling and shot out from the joined part of the two helm stations. More crewmen rushed to put out fires and reroute damaged controls as the red alert siren blared off; scarlet emergency lights flashed on and off on the bridge. "What the hell are they doing?" Kirk asked to anyone who could respond.

Spock steadied himself in his seat. He watched the scans carefully. "They appear to be engaging in some kind of suicide mission."Uhura held her console to steady herself; T'Mar clutched the railing and pulled herself up from the floor.

 _Ah, no. That's all we need._ He tapped his arm rest comm and shouted his chair pickup."Scotty, damage report!"

Scotty ran through a crowd of scrambling engineers and smoke. They confused ensigns and commanders ran to get to their stations; one limed by Scotty. He held his console to his mouth. "Assessing damage but at first peek, she seems to be holding together, sir. But I don't know how much more of this she can take." Leaning over the rail he held, he saw a yellow shirt-clad officer still down working in the damaged area that now needed to be cleared.

"Geez...oh, you bastard!" he waved the officer away hastily. _Get out of there!_

Kirk nodded and turned off his comm and the red alert siren. "Sulu, Chekov; make sure none of them get through." They worked quickly to repel the kamikaze-style ships; Sulu fired on and destroyed the first one. A second one proved impossible to hit. It crashed into the shields, depleting them entirely of energy. Chekov attempted to compensate, reworking and fixing circuits and power flow to keep up with the onslaught going on outside. His eyes flew back and forth between it and the scans on the next incoming missile. Shields wouldn't recharge to full, but they needed what they could get. Fingers flying, he put up the weakened shielding to deflect back the missile ship. It just worked. They repeated that twice more fend off the last two crashing ships. Other officers celebrated this small victory, but made no sound indicating as such, instead calling out readouts to each other in an attempt to mitigate the destruction going on around them.

Kirk watched as several blue lights moved closer to the _Enterprise_. They danced and arced toward their target.

 _BOOM! BOOM!_ With punishing blows, four more winged ships, again moving in pairs, discharged their weapons and rocked the ship.

"Hull strength down to 84 – no, 80 percent!" Sulu shouted. He targeted and fired on one pair. The fighters ruptured and broke up with a blue and yellow flash. Whipping the targeting interface around to face back, he targeted the next two. One after the other, the icons disappeared from the screen. The shields were raised just in time to absorb several blue orbs. Chekov armed all weapons and engaged the automatic target locking system. He slid his hands around, locking onto one and then another. Photon torpedoes and phasers shot out from the ship's energy banks, eliminating the attack ships in quick succession.

From her station, Uhura watched the two officers at the front worked in tandem, wiping out one incoming craft after another. There was a silence filled by steaming consoles and the beeping and chiming of the bridge instrumentation. No more ships. She turned around to check the transponder frequencies coming off the Gorn. "Captain, the enemy ships have resumed their course towards the rip."

Chekov and Sulu shared a glance, smiling with satisfied looks. They breathed heavily from exhaustion.

Spock raised an eyebrow and turned to look at his commanding officer."With the attack fighters destroyed, we should easily overtake the remaining vessels, Captain."

 _Now we're getting somewhere._ Kirk straightened up looked confidently at the screen. "Hold your fire, Sulu. Take us to full impulse and bring us within transporter range. Uhura, hail the lead ship, tell them they're about to be boarded."

Not even a few seconds after he gave the order, Gorn ships began exploding all around them. Kirk stared out in disbelief. _I just told you to..._ He couldn't believe it. "I SAID HOLD YOUR FIRE!" He barked at his confused lieutenant and anyone else who may have fired the shots.

"Captain, it wasn't us!" Sulu protested, looking wide eyed at his console. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say they were firing on their own ships!"

"They are creating a debris field with their own people..." Spock looked out with confusion. Sulu was right; yellow beams fired out from the lead ship in a helical pattern. The smaller craft were no match for the larger, more powerful weapons of the lead Gorn craft. Now that they were closer to it, the rip looked as if pink and purple oil was slowly leaking into the center from all sides. Because it was contracting steadily, it seemed like a whirl pool without the spinning motion.

"In torpedo range, sir." Sulu observed the image of the lead ship gradually growing closer.

"Target their engines. I just want that ship disabled." Kirk was determined that the Gorn weren't going to escape. They _had_ to get back the device.

The Japanese helmsman struggled to see through the Gorn wreckage. Piloting around it was hard enough; hitting the engines from there would be that much more difficult. "There's too much debris, I can't line-up the shot!" He struggled to adjust the targeting controls.

"Then you'll have to do it manually."

"This should be interesting..."Sulu replied hesitantly. He liked a challenge as much as the next guy, but this was ridiculous. Taking in a deep breath, he settled in and switched the targeting to manual. He accessed the torpedo's targeting computer and interfaced it with his helm. A circular red icon appeared around the screen as the torpedo fired. Sulu grabbed the stick on the helm and steered it.

 _Up...right...left...up...down...left...up_. Sulu grit his teeth and squinted his eyes. He slowly manoeuvred the single torpedo around metal fragments and assorted debris; a nose piece of one ship, a single thrusters or nacelle of another. The lead Gorn ship's engineering section got larger and larger on the screen.

 _Clear._ His heart rate elevated as the torpedo slammed into the ridged main engine. It exploded with massive force, sending bits of debris flying off the outer hull of the main ship. Sulu yelled back in excitement. "Direct hit, Captain!"

"Fire!" Phasers and torpedoes locked and fired on the lead vessel. It kept moving, at a slower rate but still forward. Kirk got to the edge of his chair, eagerly watching the ship as it moved closer to the rip. With a brilliant flash of light and a large _bang_ , the Gorn vessel disappeared into the rip. The _Enterprise_ fired on more parting torpedo as it vanished.

Sulu breathed heavily, watching the console and then the screen. "Sir...it's gone. The ship just went through the rip."

Spock's facial expression dropped. He looked over to see T'Mar, who had lost the colour in her face.

Kirk shoved back into his chair, looking defeated. The Gorn ship was gone. They still had Surok.

 _They still have the Helios device._

 **...**

The _Enterprise_ sat silently overlooking the rip. Lights flashed on the side of the relatively undamaged federation ship. On the bridge, everyone was silent as they gazed out the view screen with awe. When the Captain stood up, their glances turned toward him awaiting his next order.

 _We've got to secure Surok and that device._ He stood still behind the rail near Spock's station, his head lowered. "Uhura, get me Starfleet Command. Sulu, set a pursuit course."

 _"_ _You're going after them?"_ McCoy's incredulous voice echoed from the VID-COMM screen next to Uhura's station.

Kirk ignored him, turning to look at his helmsman."Full impulse power, Sulu."

"Aye aye, sir." The helmsman replied, his gaze momentarily shifting to the doctor's visage on the back vid-comm screen. As everyone on board knew by now, McCoy had something to add. In this case, it wasn't an angry response to Spock's logic or a condescending remark about the Kirk's actions. This was serious.

 _"_ _Jim, sickbay is overflowing."_ He thumbed over his shoulder toward injured behind him. _"We need to get these people to the nearest Starbase immediately."_

T'Mar looked to Kirk awaiting his response.

"Sir, the rip is interfering with communications. I can't hail command." Kirk shifted his gaze to his communications officer, then back to his doctor.

 _"_ _Wait...so, your 'plan' is to go through a compressing tear in the fabric of space to chase a vicious alien race we don't know anything about, except, that they now have a doomsday device and we can't even call for backup?"_ McCoy's tone indicated it wasn't much of a plan at all.

Spock stepped forward, drawing Kirk's gaze. "Perhaps the doctor is right. If we were to fail in our pursuit, Starfleet would know nothing of our fate."

"Entering the rip in two minutes, Captain." Sulu updated him, looking back toward the screen.

Kirk lowered his chin to his chest in thought.

 _"_ _We really don't even know what's on the other side, Jim."_ McCoy's voice turned to desperation. Above all else, he thought of the injured patients he so desperately cared for. Kirk's look shifted to T'Mar, who looked back at him.

 _Bones is right. The crew has to come first right now. We can't fight them all._ "Power down, Mister Sulu." he said, his eyes downcast in defeat.

T'Mar quickly stepped forward. "Commodore Daniels operates a Starbase nearby. He could offer additional support."

 _Him?_ Kirk hadn't thought of the man in ages. How long had it been since Pike had introduced them? "Daniels? Really? I kinda hate that guy."

"While I agree with your assessment of his character, Captain, he may be our only option."

"T'Mar, we will get your father back. I promise."Kirk softened his tone, placing a hand on her shoulder. As he spoke, she looked at it, causing him to lower it back to his side.

"I appreciate your compassion, Captain. But we must focus our energies on retrieving the Helios machine." Her gaze met the floor and her tone lowered. "If the Gorn learn to harness its power..." She trailed off, considering the implications of it all.

"That isn't gonna happen." Kirk clenched his jaw and strode back to his chair.

The _Enterprise_ reset its course and jumped into warp, disappearing into a blue flash with a loud bang.

 **...**

 _Stardate 2259.32_

 _USS Enterprise – Senior Staff Conference Room_

Taking a sip of his coffee, Kirk looked agitated. His fingers and eyes flew across a PADD overseeing various ship's reports from different divisions. Engineering reported damage to the hull was not serious and medical staff gave detailed accounts of Vulcan, crewmen and –women injuries. All of this was mostly formality, and did not require his immediate attention. What he really wanted was take what little time he had left before they arrived at Frontier Starbase to shower, change, relax and let some of the tension go.

He was just about to do so, when a certain Chief of engineering appeared in the doorway passing the Vulcan first officer. Scott seemed to be in a hurry as well, but was almost bouncing on his heels, brimming with information.

"You want some coffee, Scotty? Replicators have plenty." Kirk motioned with his cup.

"Nae, I'm okay." Scott waved him off. He was evidently _not_ okay by the concerned look on his face. "Sir! I've got to talk to you about something, and I know you want to go and freshen up, but – it's something that's been bothering me. Something I dinna want to say around Spock, or T'Mar."

"Go ahead, Scott. Spit it out. I haven't got time to chat."

"I've tried to maintain me composure and professionalism about this Vulcan crisis, but I kinna no longer. That fancy toy they've made to drain power from the binary stars was and is a crazy idea."

Kirk rolled his eyes. "Scott, I know. I read your scathing remarks in the write up you composed."

"Oh, so you're actually _reading_ them?" Scott replied, letting his head drop slightly to one side. "I thought I was just doing that for the science team to log it away. You know, posterity? Besides, I thought you had better things to do, like cheat death. _Again._ "

Hands on the other man's shoulders, Kirk became exasperated. "Listen, I am glad you file those reports. I _need_ them, you know. So does Spock. I appreciate them. Now, what about Helios?"

"More like Pandora's box. There's a reason it hasn't been tried before. I've scanned the schematics thoroughly, and they have good theories put into practice. But there in that exact sentence, is the problem."

"Yes, I know." Kirk said, pacing toward the door. "'They need to be tested, not used because there's a chance it could work.' Don't _you_ do things like that in your own time?"

"Well, yes. Sometimes, but that's not the point. This just _isn't_ Vulcan. It isn't like them. Now, I've gotten to know Spock _pretty_ well over this last little while, and if those Vulcans are like him, then I can't explain why they'd do something so stupid. He'd never pull the trigger on a phaser that could backfire, you know what I mean?"

This caused Kirk to pause and think. Spock was not the irrational type, nor were the other Vulcans. "No, you're right. That definitely doesn't sound like an average Vulcan response. But with this being their only home –"

A finger pointed straight at the Captain's chest. "– I thought of that as well. And now we've got the Gorn handling the Helios machine. It's obvious _they_ don't want it to terraform planets. I thought red matter was the worst thing we'd face. _This_ device opens space up like a tin can, allowing anything to waltz right in. God help us all if the Klingons, or anyone hostile get their grubby hands on it, and if the Gorn keep it!"

Kirk shook his head, eyes fixed on the ground. He thought about the red matter disaster that destroyed Vulcan, and almost ate the ship and Earth as well. Helios allowed Gorn invasions on _every_ homeworld. Like billions of Neros. _God help us all is right._

"I've gotta go. You get down to engineering, try to keep it together down there."

"Aye, Captain." With a nod they parted ways, each going down the hall toward turbo lifts. Neither noticed Spock who waited just outside with his back turned. Gaze on the Captain, he thoughtfully considered the actions of his people.

 **...**

 _Stardate 2259.32_

 _USS Enterprise – Main Engineering_

Once back in engineering, Scotty began studying the first of three devices Kirk had found.

They were only scans, but based on the look and details of the structure, he confirmed what he had feared. These were _not_ benign technological tools. These gave him the chills.

The first was a strange looking tool. It was essentially a mass of wires and circuits inside a harmless looking shell. What Kirk probably hadn't seen were the sharp blades. _Definitely not a peaceful purpose for that doohickey._ It had to be a breach tool, like a cutter to break locks.

 _Or body parts, by what happened to the Vulcans down there._ Scotty cringed and quickly filled in his comments.

The second was much more interesting. It injected a computer virus into the computer system it was latched to, but not just any virus.

He puckered his lips in thought. _Hmmm..._ Every time a program went into a different system in the Vulcan building, the program was completely different. Each new kind of system gets a different rewritten code, with a different purpose. He was almost impressed; this would be hard to defend against should it get too close to the _Enterprise._

 _Ooh, that's a horrible thought._ He spent a minute typing more comments into his tablet before moving onto the third device.

He was stumped. He looked at it from all angles, looking at the energy signatures, the overall structure, the outer wiring. Nothing. He began typing his comments for Kirk.

 _I very, very much want to take this thing apart and figure out how it works. It's the engineer in me. I'm also very, very afraid of what will happen to me if I attempt to do so. It's the terrified Scot in me._

Who knew what the Gorn did with it? Scotty wasn't sure, but he'd have to share his findings before the Captain soon before he left.

 **...**

 _Stardate 2259.32_

 _USS Enterprise – Kirk's Quarters_

 _Daniels. I definitely don't like him._ Why did he have to be closest, of all people?

Kirk walked around his quarters, barefoot in just his uniform pants. His hair still dripped from the quick shower he had taken. He reached for his under shirt and a new gold uniform shirt off his bed and pulled it over his head. Looking in the mirror, he glanced over himself.

 _Whatever._ He waved his hand at the mirror and walked away. Thoughts swirled in his mind. Ever since T'Mar had mentioned Daniels, he remembered the one and only time the two had met. He was glad it was just the one time. He had gotten into several fights during his Starfleet academy training, and that night was almost the most costly of all.

Sitting down on the side of his bed, he let himself fall back against his mattress. He had a few minutes to rest. A dull ache moved through the back of his head. He reached back to massage it. The Gorn had certainly thrown him hard. If he had told McCoy about it, he would never have gotten out of sickbay.

When he closed his eyes, images of dead Vulcans and flying disrupter beams flew around his mind. He struggled to fight them off, to no avail. _All the death. The pain. The destruction._ He needed a diversion from it all.

 _Daniels._ He returned his thoughts to the Commodore. His anger returned. At that point, even his old rival Jake Finnegan didn't seem like such bad company. The Commodore ticked Kirk off in a way he couldn't even understand. At least Finnegan knew when to quit.

 _At least I could punch Finnegan back._ He had. Several times.

When he closed his eyes, he tried to remember look of the hotel he was in when it all happened. _It was a party for someone._ Kirk was sure of that detail. Some Starfleet big shot's birthday bash. There was definitely a large cake, with a finger full of frosting no one would miss.

 _Heh heh._ It was good chocolate. And even better, the champagne was flowing.

Some admiral had made a speech. It was then that Pike had the bright idea to introduced several admirals formally to the new kid on the block. That was where things started to go downhill.

 **...**

 _Stardate 2258.344_

 _Ashland Hotel Banquet Hall_

 _San Francisco, California, United States_

 _Earth_

Music filled the air as masses of people glided across the floor. It was the birthday celebration for Admiral Wellman, and everyone who was anyone flocked to the place to celebrate. Alongside a table with several refreshments and finger foods, Captain James T. Kirk, clad in his grey dress uniform, stood sipping a cup of punch.

Admiral Christopher Pike stood beside him, looking over the crowds. His uniform was grey with white down the front middle and along the top front of the shoulders. Four gold metal decoration pins were across each shoulder, and his gold Starfleet insignia on the left side of his chest. The uniform's collar came up to the neck. The lines around his eyes and his forehead showed the many years of experience and stress. Still, though he was pushing 53 and greying at the temples, he still looked every inch the Captain he was before his promotion a year ago; still energetic and passionate about his job. The only thing that was obviously different was the cane he had. He hardly limped though.

Kirk chuckled. _Yeah, and still, he was just as much a pain in the –_

"Come on, Kirk. Smile, you look like you're at a funeral." Pike put a hand on the young captain's shoulder and tilted his head.

"I don't know anyone here. It's like being in my freshman year at the academy." When he had began there, he had few friends and a lot of trouble with the senior officers. Some were here tonight.

Pike sighed. "As I recall, you didn't have much trouble making friends then; McCoy, for one. You're a popular guy, especially when you put your effort into it. And then, you didn't have trouble befriending the women-"

 _That's enough._ "Okay, all right. I get it. But this is different. Practically everyone here is a senior officer; I have to tip-toe my way around to avoid offending someone. I can't get comfortable here." Kirk would have been a lot more in his element partying with some of his crewmen.

"Well, look over there. Even Spock is enjoying himself." Pike pointed across the room. Spock was engaged in a conversation with two men and a woman. As usual, he appeared stiff as he spoke. _Probably talking about the merits of logic in everyday life, or something like that,_ Kirk thought to himself.

"How could you tell? That's the face he always makes." Kirk sighed and looked over at the man of the hour. Wellman stood tall and proud, his brown hair streaked with silver. Next to him, his wife stood looking lovingly up at him and exchanging laughter and conversation with some close friends. She put a hand out to shake with another person who stopped to say hello. Admiral Wellman recognized him and pulled him into an embrace. At least they seemed to be having a good time.

"Come, I'm going to introduce you to some people I know." Pike lifted Kirk's arm and beckoned him to follow. Kirk tried to protest, but no words came out. In vain, he reached out to grab an hors-d'oeuvre off of a passing plate. At last, he followed behind his admiral friend through the crowds of people. He smiled at a cute brunette who gave him a look as he passed. Pike noticed and sighed.

"Over here." he walked on ahead of Kirk and out toward four men, who based on their uniforms, were also admirals. After talking for a moment, he turned around and gestured for Kirk to step forward. "This is who I was talking about."

Kirk swallowed and stuck out a hand. "Captain James Kirk of the USS _Enterprise_ ," he coughed, lowering his voice slightly. "Pleased to make your acquaintances."

A tall, well-built black man with a clean shaven face was first to extend his own hand. "Admiral Jonathan Foster. I've wanted to meet you for a while now." He smiled and chuckled a bit. "They say that you're going to be the next great Captain..." One of the other men huffed at that statement, getting looks from the other two.

Kirk smiled back and shut his eyes, nodding. "Yeah, well, one thing at a time. I'm still finding my way around the ship." Another man stepped forward, and a followed by a woman. The last one seemed less than pleased to be around here at all. _I'm not the only one_ , Kirk said quietly to himself.

"Admiral Connor Moulson." The brown-haired man nodded. His handshake was firm and tight, as was the expression on his face. Not a mean look, but just very professional. Kirk could see that this guy was several inches taller than the others.

"I'm Admiral Hannah Carter." She smiled warmly at the Captain, brushing a blonde and grey lock of her face. Her light brown eyes shone with the natural joy and grace she carried herself with. "I'm surprised it took this long to see you. I would have thought you'd have everyone wanting to talk to you; after all, you did save us from the Romulan attack."

Kirk's face changed to show some humility. "Well sir, I-"

"Call me Hannah, please." She grinned at him in a way that made Kirk feel slightly more comfortable.

"Well, uh... _Hannah_ , I'm honoured that you and everyone else thinks so highly of me, but tonight is Wellman's night. It's _his_ birthday, and he is a living legend." Wellman had not done one accolade, like Kirk had. The experienced admiral had a career long list of accomplishments and stories that could fascinate the entire freshmen class at Starfleet academy. No wonder he was so often asked to speak at events. He was generally liked by all.

Moulson smiled and took a sip of his drink. "That he is. One of the most respected men in the fleet."

Kirk noticed the man at the back of the crowd still hadn't said anything. "I didn't catch your name, sir. I'm James Ki-"

The strong, rugged Commodore sighed and stepped forward. Putting on his best friendly smile, he put a hand up. "Yes, I know who _you_ are. Who doesn't? I'm Commodore Richard Daniels."

Kirk returned his smile. He didn't quite know how to take that comment.

Pike tapped Kirk's shoulder. "It seems things are going all right, so I'll just be over there." He waved to the others as he walked away. Now, without supervision, Kirk stood up a little straighter and prepared to make conversation. Why hadn't there been a class for this?

"Later, Christopher." Foster pointed a finger and grinned.

Kirk was alone with four senior officers. He wasn't sure what one discussed with the elite. Looking from side to side, he took a sip of his drink faced back to the smiling officers. "This is a great party. Did you try the cake? It's really good."

Foster looked confused. "They haven't served the cake yet."

 _Uh-oh._ Kirk turned slightly red. "Well, it...uh...looks good. I can smell it from here." Carter smiled knowingly at Kirk, causing him to look down in slight embarrassment.

Moulson changed the subject. "How does it feel being _Captain_ of the flagship?"

Kirk shifted his weight, feeling more comfortable. "It is amazing. I couldn't ask for a better ship," he looks over at Spock, who seemed a bit more relaxed. "Or crew, for that matter. They've been exemplary." He shrugged. "But I'm just getting started. You've been doing this a lot longer than I have; I'm sure _my_ adventures are no match for _yours_."

"You could be here all night listening to some of the tales. Have you got, oh, five years to stand around listening?" Foster held his hands out in front of him. A deep chuckle escaped him. "You deserve everything you get; you asked for it."

Daniels sniffed. "Not _everything._ "

Carter nudged the middle aged admiral next to her. "Connor, tell him about the incident on Kellin V." She leaned in to Kirk. "It's long, but you'll love it. He screamed like a girl when the seemingly docile natives tried to feed him their idea of food." She squinted with delight as she described it.

Moulson laughed, holding his stomach as he recalled the meal. "It was like eating fire. I was feeling the effects days later, firing on all cylinders, you might say." They all laughed."But, that's not the funniest story. Remember the time I almost mistook that Reelian ambassador for a friend I knew? It was the most awkward conversation."

"Wait," Kirk tilted his head slightly. "You two served together?" He pointed between Moulson and Carter.

Carter put an arm around Moulson. "Twenty years on the _Reliant_. I never thought I'd see _him_ here, but somehow we always bumped into each other." They shared a quick look. It appeared the two admirals felt more than just a strong friendship.

Kirk shook his head. "I feel stupid now; here I thought it would be awkward to talk to you guys."

Foster shrugged. "Hey, we may have a higher rank, but we were all in your position once. Rising in the ranks doesn't mean you have to leave your sense of humour at home."

"Sure hope I feel the same way about it when I, well..."

Foster laughed from deep in his chest. "Oh, it might happen someday, if you live long enough. Promotions don't happen over night; it takes time, effort, and sometimes a little luck. In my experience, it's the people who don't consider it the most important thing that rise the fastest."

"And here you are; all where you deserve to be." Kirk looked from one to another. He needed to think of something else to say aside from compliments.

"He's got the kissing up part down pat." Moulson took a sip of his drink through a grin. Kirk fought to not make a face.

"No, seriously. If I've learned one thing from Pike, you have to earn what you want to own. Nobody's just going to hand you something; you have to work for it." The youngest man of the group looked at the others squarely.

Daniels choked on his cannoli. _He did not just say that._

"What?"Carter turned to look back at the Commodore.

Kirk frowned in confusion. "Did I say something wrong?"

Daniels lifted one hand in a pause gesture, swallowing hard. He cleared his throat and met Kirk's gaze, sneering. "I'm sorry, but that's just _rich_ coming from you." He knocked back his glass of punch in one gulp.

Kirk's eyebrows twitched. "How so? You have a different opinion, Commodore?" He tugged on the end of his jacket with one hand and took a step forward.

Daniels didn't flinch. Instead, he cocked his head to one side. "Well, I'm just saying that you didn't even earn _your_ position. You were only average at best in the academy; cheated your way through the Kobayashi Maru test; it was only a week before you jumped from ensign to captain. As for the _Enterprise_? Admiral Pike just handed it over to you. You haven't truly earned a thing your whole life." His tone grew rougher as he continued.

"Take it easy, Richard. Leave the man alone." Moulson pleaded toward him, uneasily.

Kirk waved his defender off. "No, no. It's alright. Go ahead, I want to hear this."

"I mean, before Starfleet, you were nothing. If Pike didn't somehow coerce you into signing up, you'd still be nothing." Daniels gestured over to the oblivious admiral a distance away.

Kirk and Daniels were now almost nose to nose. Though angry at his comments, Kirk kept his composure. "Well, I owe him a lot for that. He believed that I could be better, do better."

"He thought he saw a glimpse of the same "greatness" your father had."He shook his head condescendingly in disbelief. "As if being legendary runs in the family," he added under his breath.

"What does my father have to do with this?" Kirk raised his voice and glared into Daniels' eyes. Around them, other people started to take notice of the fight. The sounds of conversation began to quiet as people nearby listened in.

"Both of you only got command because the Captain was otherwise occupied. You owe more to that Romulan terrorist than you do to anything."

 _What?!_ Kirk's frustration rose. "My dad was a hero! He saved over 800 people in twelve minutes as Captain. I wouldn't be alive today if it wasn't for his sacrifice, nor would my mother or all those people!"

"A sad story; him giving his life for his crew. But that's all; he wasn't anything special, he was just in the right place at the right time." The two combatant Starfleet officials were now nearly face to face.

"He saw what had to be done and did it. He didn't care what happened to himself, as long as everyone else lived."

"But that's just it; it was there, he was forced. If not for that one incident, George Kirk wouldn't be anything more than a first officer. I read what happened; he couldn't escape from the Kelvin. He was captain _twelve_ minutes and somehow it entitles him to eternal glory." He waved his hands in the air. "Yes, he was good man for saving them. Now _you_ didn't even do that. You're barely out of diapers, and somehow you think _you_ deserve the chair. You don't, and you probably never will." The other admirals looked uncomfortable and in shock. Carter's mouth hung open, unable to speak. It had, by now caught the attention of almost everyone around them, including Spock.

Kirk's blood boiled. "Don't you tell me what I do or don't deserve. You don't know me. I'm doing everything I can to prove to people like you that Pike was right to trust me." His stare held firmly on Daniels' eyes.

"You see all these people here? They've spent years facing down the Klingons and the Romulans, disasters and failures, and somehow still have come out victorious in the end. _They_ deserve the ranks they have. They've served, you haven't. You _don't_ deserve the special treatment." Daniels pointed a finger into Kirk's chest.

Spock stepped in beside them. "If you'll recall, Captain Kirk successfully repelled Nero's attempt to destroy Earth. If not for his leadership and bravery, Admiral Pike would have died, and there would be no Starfleet period. The red matter Nero possessed would have rendered Earth and all of its inhabitants dead." He was now glaring into the commodores eyes.

Ignoring the Vulcan, Daniels refocused on his target. "Hiding behind your first officer's skirts, I see. Hardly a hallmark of a great leader. The whole 'hero' act didn't do much good for the Vulcans, did it? I'm surprised he wastes his time defending you."

Spock's eyebrows lowered. _If you are trying to derive an emotional response..._

Kirk's mouth twisted. "You have no right to talk about my father, my first officer, or me like that! _You_ know nothing about leadership or honour! If you did, you'd realize loyalty goes a long way. I might not be overly experienced, but I do know this..."

Pike turned around from his conversation with some friends a distance away to see Kirk was toe to toe with the Commodore. He quickly put his discussion on hold by putting up a finger and hurried over to stop Kirk before this came to blows. The young, hot headed captain was turning redder by the moment. Spock was now involved as well, and Admiral Foster tried in vain to intervene. Pike groaned under his breath. _Ah, Jim. Not here, not now. Don't blow this..._

"My service is a duty, not an opportunity." Kirk's jaw popped.

"Captain Kirk has always acted in the best interests of his crew."Spock quickly added.

" _Not an opportunity?_ You just want credit for everything. You want to be just like daddy."

Kirk's eyes burned. "YOU-"

Pike came between the three before Daniels could respond. He put a hand on Spock's shoulder. "Spock, I think commander Nielson is asking where you are." He inclined his head toward the Vulcan, silently telling him he needed to back off. Turning his back to Daniels, he put hands on Kirk's shoulders. "Jim, you need to cool down. Why don't you get some champagne or something? I'll be along in a moment."

Kirk exhaled hard before turning and walked off, glaring at the Commodore as he left.

Commodore Daniels stood smugly observing Pike call out Kirk. He smirked. _Little punk was asking for it. Finally Christopher is learning to deal with him properly._ He turned to walk off toward the other end of the banquet table. Pike stopped him with a hand on his shoulder.

"Hold on; I'm not done with you, Commodore." He moved him back away from most of the crowd, speaking in a low voice as not to draw further attention.

"My congratulations; you finally figured out what we all know. That boy, Kirk, needs a leash."Daniels grinned.

Pikes hands moved onto his hips. "What _Captain_ Kirk needs is respect from people like you. Just because he got further up the ranks in weeks than you could in decades is no reason to treat him like he's not fit to wipe your boots. Vulcan was not his fault; it was no one's but the Romulan terrorist Nero. If not for him, the flagship would've been a cloud of debris."

"You owe your life to him, I get it. Doesn't give him rights to free access of the _Enterprise_." He rolled his eyes. "How many strings did you pull anyways?"

" _Starfleet_ gave him the ship because, yes, he _is_ a hero, and because in the face of danger he went beyond the call of duty. He saved me, my ship, my crew, and if you haven't heard yet, Earth! And another thing, you can't _speak_ about George Kirk the way you did. He is regarded as a hero by all of us because he did what few people would have ever had the courage to do."

He took in a breath, looking at Daniels' face. The Commodore had turned slightly red, and he had become quiet with embarrassment. He seemed quite tired of hearing about Kirk, and now only wanted another drink. Pike paused, observing Daniels' look of confusion. "Yeah, I heard you. We all did. I was just hoping you'd lay off, but I guess I was wrong."

"Listen to yourself, Richard; you're drunk. I can smell it on your breath. You're disrespecting everyone here, especially the admiral," he pointed, "by making a scene; you're dragging a good man's name through the mud..." He stopped and turned to leave Daniels' presence. "I'm done."

After a few moments, Daniels shook his head walked over to a corner by himself. He glared over to Kirk, who didn't notice him. _Darn it, Starfleet. You've made a mistake handing over the flagship to that...kid. He can barely look after himself._ A man joined him, and within seconds they began talking and laughing.

Wellman and his wife slowly brought that crowd of people back to a semblance of celebration and mirth. The music continued playing and slowly the conversation chatter picked back up. Pike strode quickly over to Kirk. Staring down at his feet, Kirk looked very uncomfortable. He watched as Pike threw back a glass of something a little stronger than punch.

"Listen, Pike, I'm so sorry. I really blew it, it's just he made me-" He tightened his fists.

"It's okay. I don't like him either."

Kirk paused, his eyebrows raised. "What?"

"He has no right to talk about his betters like that. That includes you, by the way." He nudged Kirk's shoulder with a fist. Kirk just stared back. The corners of his mouth curved up.

Pike considered the golden liquid swirling in his glass. "I don't blame you for getting mad; Daniels is a difficult man to get along with. I can't stand him. He operates a Starbase out near the edge of Federation space, and that is not a coincidence. Top brass would rather not have him around at these functions. He's been in that position for years now, and hasn't gotten a promotion yet." Pike sighed and ran a hand over his greying black hair. "I guess it's just all that time out there that's made him so miserable and unfriendly."

 _Wow._ Kirk wasn't expecting this. He was sure Pike was going to scold him for speaking up to senior officers like that. "I don't like him."

"Neither do I. We've butt heads more than once, boy. This was nothing. I'm sure no one will blame you one bit. Probably a few wanted to do the same thing. Worse." He sighed, observing the crowd.

"It'll be talked about for a while, though; you see all the people watching us?"

"The crowd wasn't too big. Hey, the way they're all drinking, no one will remember anything from tonight." Pike shot him a gentle smile. The two shared a chuckle. Resuming his semi-serious look, Pike continued, "Just don't get into it with any more superior officers."

"Thanks. For standing up for me; that really meant a lot." Kirk nodded with a smile. His blue eyes squinted slightly.

"Think nothing of it." He put down his drink when he saw Admiral Wellman and Mrs. Wellman walking around greeting people again. It was as if nothing had happened; people were laughing and joking around. Some commanders danced and swayed to the soft music.

In a crowd, Kirk caught a glimpse of a woman with blonde hair cut short down to her shoulder. In a fleeting moment, she was gone in the crowds. After searching for a second, he gave up. Pike clapped Kirk's back, giving him a start.

"Well, we might as well try to enjoy the rest of the party, if that's possible." A small smile curved up the corners of the older man's lips. He clapped Kirk's shoulder.

Walking forward, Kirk met back up with Admiral Foster and a small crowd of others eager to speak to him. Spock joined the conversation a moment later.

 **...**

 _Stardate 2259.32_

 _USS Enterprise – Kirk's Quarters_

Kirk lurched up from his bed. _How long have I been out?_

"Computer, how long has it been since I came in here?"

"Twenty minutes." The female computerized voice answered back.

 _Just checking._ It wasn't that bad. He jumped off the bed and slid on his boots. He now remembered what ticked him off about Daniels. There was little that didn't.

He didn't really want to think about Daniels anymore. In a half hour, he'd have to face him again. There was still tension between the two. Kirk had taken time to read up on the Commodore; a normal Starfleet service record of over 30 years in service. He was on that Starbase for almost eight years. What stuck out to Kirk were the details of his service. He made repeated requests to be on the best ships, and wasn't ever happy with where he was. Kirk had also heard of some less-than-raving reviews from people who served under Daniels, only confirming his suspicions; this guy was a real piece of work. He was the kind of guy Kirk really didn't like. Still, he couldn't help but feel _a little_ sorry for him, since he was stuck on a base in the middle of nowhere. When they got to the base, he'd have act respectfully; Daniels was _still_ a senior officer, and he had what Kirk needed.

 _This is gonna be difficult to do._ The Captain got up and walked forward, pausing at the doors.

 _SWISH._ The pneumatic doors slid open. Kirk shut the lights off and left his room, striding down the hall purposefully. Spock came in behind him from around a corner, falling almost in step with Kirk.

"Captain, we should arrive at the Starbase in approximately 28 minutes."

Kirk kept looking forward. "Good. I'm going to see Bones about the injured and infected; you coming?"

"Yes, I would like to learn what the Doctor has uncovered about this virus. If he could find a cure quickly enough, he should be able to limit the casualties on New Vulcan."

"There were a lot of them Bones _won't_ be able to help, Spock. You saw what the Gorn did."

"I am aware we found many dead, but I also noticed that many Vulcans were unconscious, but alive." They turned a corner and continued down toward a turbo lift.

Kirk looked over, surprised. "Alive? That many? Well, that's good..."

"Unlike you, Captain, _I_ am not as surprised. Vulcans have a well-developed immune system, and are remarkably resilient to abuse." The turbo lift opened, letting out a blue-dressed science crewman and her red-shirted security officer friend. They stopped briefly to nod at the passing Captain and First officer.

"Medbay." The doors shut and the turbo lift hummed at it moved. "The day hasn't even started yet, and I'm already getting worn out. Think Bones will mind if I grab a cup of coffee from his office?"

"No, I do not. The replicators provide a seemingly limitless supply." He paused. "I'm wondering how much Daniels may know about this Helios project."

"You really think they'd let him in on something like this? We don't have time to explain it to him; we just need enough support to go through and get that Helios device."

"Indeed. Once we are clear of the rip's interference, we can contact Starfleet and alert them of the threat. They need to be made aware of this immediately."

"I know protocol, Spock. " The turbo lift opened onto a hallway leading toward the ship's sick bay. "That anomaly is going to be closed in a matter of hours, we haven't got a lot of time to save Surok and the device. I have to."

Spock frowned slightly. "You should not have made that promise to T'Mar when it is uncertain whether or not you'll be able to keep it."

"It's a promise I intend to keep." Kirk clenched his jaw. He wasn't going to fail her.

 **...**

 _Stardate 2259.32_

 _USS Enterprise – Sickbay_

 _"_ _Chief Medical Officer's log, supplemental. I should have been a farmer. Stayed in Mississippi and bought a nice plot of land, spent my days chasing chickens and sipping lemonade on the porch. Instead I'm about as far from Mississippi as you can get, chasing cures to alien diseases we never even knew existed and drinking stale Romulan ale. And not a porch in sight."_

McCoy started as a Vulcan lurched forward and coughed loudly. The man's face was flushed bright green. McCoy caught the eye of a passing nurse who rushed over to help the Vulcan. Sighing, he walked over to study more readings of an officer with a head laceration. He briefly glanced toward the doors. _Where are those two anyway?_

Kirk and Spock walked through the broad open doorway into sickbay. Several doctors and nurses walked around from bio-bed to bio-bed, checking the readings on various Vulcans and _Enterprise_ crew members. They had white tunics on over their blue uniforms. Kirk noticed T'Mar getting a hypo spray. She didn't even flinch as the medicine discharged into her arm.

From behind a console, McCoy accessed and studied readings from the monitors with one hand, and checked his tricorder in his other hand. He noticed Kirk and Spock walk in, talking with some of his staff. He hurried over to them. "Jim! Spock! I've been waiting for you two to show up. Now sit down; I need to look you over, and make sure those Gorn haven't given you some other virus."

The two officers sat down on neighbouring beds. McCoy took out his tricorder and waved a beeping cylindrical device around Spock's head, pursing his lips in frustration. "You know, you didn't have to fly down here, it's only been half an hour." There was very obvious sarcasm in his voice.

"We came as soon as possible, Bones." Kirk leaned back his head.

Spock turned his head to see his numbers on the monitor, but McCoy pressed the scanner against his cheek and turned it back to face forward. "Hold still, it's hard to get a reading on a moving target."

"I was going to mention that when you check the Captain, you may notice several repaired fractures on his femur. I utilized a medbay down in the facilities to quickly regenerate his bone tissue in order to enable him to escape."

"What? Let me see that." He walked over to Kirk and immediately focused in on his left leg. After scanning it for a moment, he brought up the image on a larger screen. The bone appeared whole. "Well, well, well. You did a pretty good job for someone without a medical degree, but it still needs a little work."

"I am sorry that I was not able to repair it properly, but being shot at made it difficult to focus on the injury." Spock glanced at McCoy with a look of slight annoyance.

"I see your point. Good job, Spock." Bones finished up with the Vulcan and ran his scanner over Kirk's body.

"How much longer, Bones?" Kirk pouted and rolled his eyes.

"Dammit, Jim! I just started. Any pain at all?" He waited a moment to scour the readings.

"Just the one standing in front of me..." The captain grinned with delight.

McCoy frowned. "You're fine. Get up."

Kirk hopped off the bed. "All right, now. How are you doing with the infected and injured?"

"All injured crew are doing fine, just cuts and bruises, and few minor breaks, but nothing life threatening. I've had to set up triage for the infected Vulcans we evacuated; I've got everything from minor burns to comas to raging fevers." The chief medical officer took something from a nurse and studied it.

"Dr. McCoy, are there any dead?" Spock asked.

"No, I'm happy to say. At first, I thought some _were_ when they got here, but sure enough those green blooded fighters just won't quit. That could change soon if we don't get to that Starbase. I'm worried, Jim; this thing isn't like anything I have ever seen! It's a heavy toxin that's gotten to everything; blood, adrenal glands, the brain. It controls them, and I can't fight it until I can find an antidote. It's the worst feeling a doctor can have; to not be able to help your own patients." He covered his face with one hand.

Spock put a hand on his arm. "Once some of the lesser injuries are cleared, it will alleviate the strain on your resources and allow you to focus on the cure."

"Exactly, Spock! Now you're getting it."Some of the tension left his neck and shoulders.

A young male doctor walked toward McCoy, leaving behind another doctor at similar height to study a particular sample both were previously intrigued by.

"Doctor, I've been able to take some samples from the most severely affected Vulcans. When we get to the station, I can send them along for processing and analysis." The man was young with black hair and stood roughly at McCoy's height. He shifted his weight and breathed deeply, feeling the effect of a long day in sickbay.

"Thank you, Simmons. Make sure that includes V'Tal and Shavik's. Their immune systems were already recently compromised." He offered a weak smile of support.

"Okay, sir. I'll let you know if I find anything." The doctor turned and left, heading to another room to check on an injured science officer recovering from broken ribs he had sustained crashing into a bulkhead during the attack.

"I should get back to work on the cure for this...Gorn virus. Damn reptiles can't just attack; they have to poison people as well." He felt like punching the table. The rational part of his mind told him he'd probably just injure himself.

"I fear that they may be ruthless in their methods." Spock's voice sounded as if he had a lot more to say than that, but held it back.

"You get on it, Bones. Don't worry; you'll find it, if anyone can. Come on, Spock; let's get back to the bridge." He clapped the Vulcan first officer on the back.

"Lead on, Captain." The two walked out. Bones watched them leave, shaking his head. The virus was giving him a headache just thinking about it.

 _And I don't even have a basic idea on how to deal with this._ He went to his office to hunt through the ship's computer database for advanced virology. These Vulcans might have only a few hours left, and he knew it.

 _Get your head in gear, Leonard._ A computer alarm beeper went off behind McCoy's head.

"Doctor!" A male attendant called. "You might want to see this!" McCoy quickly hurried over to the scanner. Among other things, he had been analysing different objects taken from the planet's surface to possibly isolate a cure, or at least better understand those Gorn things better. A long barrelled Gorn weapon Kirk had seized, some scans of Gorn tech (which McCoy thought he should forward to Scotty), a few fragments of an exploded grenade, blood samples, and assorted other scans.

A blonde female nurse considered the image on the large screen. McCoy's eyes widened. It was Kirk's discarded uniform. Among burn marks, rips, and blood stains, a single stain was of particular interest.

According to the scanner, it was genetic material. Definitely not Human or Vulcan and not quite Gorn either.

McCoy squinted. "Spock's uniform has traces of it as well. Where did it come from?"

"That's just it," the nurse said, frowning down at the uniform, then up at McCoy. " _That_ is where Commander Spock said he had been hit with a shot when he got back from down there."

The doctor's eyebrows raised. "He got shot?"

"Yes, but it just knocked him over. He figured that was a secondary function of the weapon the creatures were using."

McCoy took a step over to the weapon behind protective glass. "Like this one?"

The male attendant met his gaze. "Yes, exactly. Captain said they all had this type of weapon."

"Some strange sort of ammunition then? So, this _stuff_ is like powder burns, except it's a viscous substance." The yellow liquid was darker around the edges. McCoy stroked his chin. "All I can say is thank God it's not corrosive. Otherwise we'd have two more patients being treated for burns, and no chance of stopping this." He tapped the screen and zoomed in on the stained section. "Take a sample and run it through the genetic sequencer."

He didn't voice aloud what he suspected. _This just gets more confusing by the second._ If the gun was using biological components...

How could a weapon, a technological piece of equipment, have living parts? He would have to consult with Scotty.

 **...**

 _Stardate 2259.32_

 _USS Enterprise - Uhura's Quarters_

 _"_ _Communications log, supplemental. Analysis of the unknown alien language recorded on New Vulcan is underway. The basic phonology is an interesting mix of mammalian and squamate with a prosody similar to advanced species encountered in mostly sub-tropical ecosystems. But the variations unique to this species are unprecedented. I just wish I had more time to study them."_

Uhura put her ear piece down. Though interesting enough, she couldn't separate the recordings from their source. Couldn't shake the horrible feeling she had. The circumstances of _why_ she was translating this. Her proficiency in linguistics made her one of the best linguists in Starfleet, but it also meant she was first to hear things that she couldn't easily forget in the course of her duty.

It was the background noises she heard over the recording that _really_ disturbed her. The shouts from distant Vulcans, the explosions, the weapons fire and the odd vocalization that wasn't speech made her less and less inclined to continue. She kept thinking of all the helpless victims down there; the fright of another planetary disaster. The pain she saw in Spock's eyes was hard to look at.

She sighed and put her head in her hands. _If only he would reach out to me._ She really wanted to help somehow, but he continued to act as if this wasn't bothering him anymore than any other mission. He assured her that the damage was limited, and that New Vulcan was now safe. Neither his father Sarek, nor the older Spock had been there at the time. Still, she couldn't help but think that this was wearing Spock's nerves thin.

 _Reet-reet!_ The noise of the door chime alerted her of someone's presence outside.

 _Probably someone from the bridge._ She pushed off the chair and made her way to the door, brushing her hand on a small potted plant on the way by. "Enter."

The doors slid open. Spock stood there, looking ahead. "I've come by quickly to pick up my things. I shall not be long. How are you progressing on the Gorn language?"

"Fine, but I've only just started. I _haven't_ been able to decipher much of the language." She gestured back to her screen.

"I trust you will find it easier as you progress." Spock paced by without a look, toward a table. "If you will excuse me-"

"Spock, wait." She reached out without touching him, feeling the warmth of his presence.

The Vulcan paused, turned around. "The Captain is expecting me in the transporter room in 15 minutes."

"Have you heard from your father? Is he okay?" The lieutenant pressed.

"Sarek, along with a Vulcan delegacy including my older self, are off world. They have yet to hear of the disaster."

 _Thank goodness. Still..._ "Spock...I'm so sorry about what happened." She put her hands on his shoulders. "You shouldn't have had to see that."Her eyes filled with sorrow, hurt. "I feel horrible for what the Vulcans have gone through."

"I appreciate your concern, Nyota." He let her comfort him for a moment. "My people will see this as what it is; a temporary setback."

She frowned. "Stop it, Spock!" Her hands pushed back on him, allowing her to look up into his eyes. "Don't just put it aside like that. People _died_ , Spock. That's more than a 'setback'."

"Their deaths are tragic, but will not be in vain. They, like the six billion who died when Vulcan was lost _will_ be remembered."

"I _know_ you're hurting, Spock. Please just be honest with me; I can't do anything to assist you until you give me a chance," she urged him, her breathing becoming heavier.

Spock put his arms around her, pulling her into an embrace. His lips brushed against her forehead, the colour of fine chocolate. He looked down at her; they were nose to nose. She caught a glimpse of pain in his eyes. "Nyota, your _being_ here helps. More than you know. However, the continued effort by this crew to stop the Gorn, rescue New Vulcan and everyone else in danger must be the top priority." He covered her lips with his, holding for a long moment.

Breaking away reluctantly, he reached for his supplies off of the table. Being the ever competent officer she was, Spock trusted her implicitly. Being the compassionate, caring woman she always had been known to be, she did not let it go at that.

Uhura touched his face, letting her fingers sit just under his jaw line. "You just promise you'll be careful, okay? Both you and Kirk. Don't run yourselves into trouble." She offered a wry smile. It faded quickly, replaced with sadness and worry.

"I'll attempt to avoid unnecessary risks."Their eyes held on each others. Then he exited, leaving her in silence.

It had happened again. Spock's people were devastated again, though not nearly as badly as before. Uhura felt as if she could cry for the shell of a Vulcan that departed. Slowly, she moved over to the replicator and got herself a coffee and a cinnamon Danish. Out the window, blue and white streaks flew past the window as the _Enterprise_ warped en route to the Starbase. It was a sight she was familiar with, yet the bursts of light took on a new significance. _New Vulcan was supposed to be a place of safety, a new beginning. How many times will they have to rebuild from disaster?_

She took one last look at the readings on her syntax analysis before heading to the bridge.

 **...**

 _Stardate 2259.32_

 _Frontier Starbase_

Abaran paced briskly back and forth by Daniel's large chair. It faced out a large window looking past several consoles and stations, out into the empty space. Stars twinkled and glowed in the cold, silent blackness. It only emphasized how far away he was from his wife, and his home. Now he knew disaster had struck for the poor Vulcans, and the one that would find its way here: a full Starfleet investigation would sink Daniels and him, and the other engineers who assisted them.

"I don't like this; waiting for what you know is coming." He stared out into the darkness. He frowned, feeling the cold sweat on his brow.

"Will you be quiet?" Daniels whispered loudly. "You want the whole bridge to hear you?"

Abaran leaned in closer. "It wasn't _me_ who started this. You were the one who came up with the idea of an alternate purpose for the device. Now you've created a disaster by starting this thing too soon."

Daniels gripped his chair arms tighter and sneered up at his assistant. "You can't talk to me like that; _I'm_ your commanding officer."

"I respect your rank and position, but after what you've done..." Abaran trailed off, shaking his head.

"You were on board before. When I talked to you about promotions, you seemed to have no problem with using the device for greater things."

"Yes, _before._ That was a mistake on my part. Can you even imagine how many people could have been killed? Maybe even T'Mar, the one who asked for your help in the first place." Abaran's face was red.

"You just shut up and keep doing your job. If you mention anything about this to anyone, you're the one who'll be hurt by the fall out. You can count on that. Now, get out of my sight; I need some time to think." Daniels waved him away, taking a sip of his drink. "I'll figure this out."

Abaran stalked away, breathing heavily. He paused at the doorway, looking back at the Commodore. He was turned around to face the night sky again, drumming his fingers on the arm rest. Abaran's muscles relaxed and his shoulders dropped.

A blue shirt turned in his chair. "Commodore, the _Enterprise_ has almost arrived. ETA is about 20 minutes. They're requesting permission to beam the doctor and several injured over first. Some of them from the New Vulcan colony."

"Fine, fine. Just do it." He waved his hand dismissively. A small curved his lips. _I'm going to make it as difficult as possible for that kid, Kirk._ "Abaran, what is Starbase protocol for visitors?"

The yellow-shirted lieutenant was snapped out of his thoughts. "Sir? Is that necessary for this situation? I don't think Captain Kirk is a security threat, and this is an emergency."

"Don't question my orders, just do it."

Abaran nodded. "Aye, sir." He left the room, heading toward the transporter bay. His thoughts drifted back to his home in Illinois. He wanted more than anything to be there, back in the familiar surroundings of downtown Chicago.

Daniels chuckled and leaned back. He couldn't wait to see Kirk's face when he got here. He was going to have to jump every hurdle in order to get to me.

 **...**

 _Stardate 2259.32_

 _USS Enterprise – Transporter Room 3_

Kirk stepped up onto the red transporter pad and stood still on one of the seven white circles. Spock and T'Mar waited patiently, each with their arms behind their backs.

"Patch us through to the bridge." Kirk said, nodding to the transporter chief. The brunette female red shirt tapped the communicator on. Kirk continued.

"Sulu, pilot the _Enterprise_ back to New Vulcan, search for any other survivors and bring them back to this base as soon as you can.

 _"_ _Aye aye, sir."_ Sulu responded.

"Lieutenant. Energize."

 **...**

 _Stardate 2259.32_

 _Frontier Starbase – Transporter Room 1_

 _VZZZZZZIIIIIINNNNNNN!_

The three materialized in a swirl of white light and energy. Kirk could see McCoy pacing back and forth, fists on the small of his back. He looked stressed as his eyes passed over the many Starfleet and Vulcan personnel writhing and moaning on their bio-beds, spread out in two groups with a pathway in the middle. Four officers were there to help him, two at each semi-circular console on either side of the two groups of beds. One of them in blue paced around, looking just as worried by the readings he got from the infected. "We need to observe quarantine procedures. We have no idea what we're dealing with here." He turned to see the officers walk down the steps of the pad and toward him.

"Jim, you should probably stay clear of the injured, just to be sure." The doctor faced Kirk head on.

"Got it. See what you can find out about the infection. We'll go talk to Daniels." Kirk led Spock and T'Mar past two security officers at the door. His brow twitched. Perhaps they were here for violent outbursts from the Vulcans.

Above the doorway, a red sign displayed CONDITION RED: EMERGENCY EVACUATION. A blue quarantine beam passed over them as they walked into the next room. Kirk's eyes met a massive blue Starfleet insignia logo in a solid white circle on the freshly waxed blue floor. Three officers, one of each uniform division, manned a U-shaped communication station in the center of the room.

"Medbay, come in. Requesting additional resources in transporter bay." Kirk tried to snag the attention of one of the young officers, but he put up a finger without looking up. The captain kept walking. There were large green and yellow plants about seven feet high on either side of the door. Two red couches sat vacant on either side of him. The carpet was also red. Three guards paced near the door with phaser rifles in their hands.

Spock raised an eyebrow. _There seems to be an unusually high level of security. This isn't even a dangerous area._ Ahead, a yellow shirted lieutenant waited anxiously, looking up at the approaching group.

"I have been sent to escort you to the Commodore."

Kirk glared at the man. _No doubt this is Daniels' idea of a joke._ "I don't _need_ an escort, _especially_ an _armed_ one." He put his hands on his hips. _Will you ever let go, Commodore?_

"But...Captain...the Commodore has insisted..." The lieutenant looked uncomfortable to even be there, let alone say it. He let his words hang in the air.

"Captain, it would be wise to remember that Commodore Daniels is _still_ a superior officer. It may be beneficial to our larger goal if we followed this gentleman." Spock directed his ire over the man's shoulder up the stairs. His arms crossed over his chest.

"Ah, fine. Whatever." They followed him up the flight of stairs. At the top they turned right, past another large console with a black science officer working away at his station. Abaran stopped abruptly in front of them. He seemed loathed to make the next request.

"Sir?" His voice had a slight trepidation.

"What now?" Kirk sighed deeply, very frustrated by the over excessive security procedures.

"You will need to check your weapons before continuing."

"You're kidding me, right? I'm a Starfleet Captain."

 _I know, sir._ Abaran grimaced; this was not how he had wanted his first meeting with Captain James Kirk to go.

"It is the protocol of this station." _And very rarely enforced,_ T'Mar finished silently in her mind.

Spock grew impatient. "There is little time to argue. I advise that we do as they say." He entered a small room just to his right and laid his phaser down on the grated metallic table. Kirk did the same reluctantly. Noticing the phaser rifles attached to the wall, he could tell this was an armoury.

As they left, Kirk nudged Spock's arm. "Roll up your sleeve, commander; they'll probably want a blood sample or something next." Spock and T'Mar turned twin frowns on him. He sighed and let his hands drop to his sides.

 **...**

 _Stardate 2259.32_

 _USS Enterprise – Mess Hall_

 _"_ _Personal log, Lieutenant Hikaru Sulu. I don't trust Commodore Daniels. His reputation precedes him. Cadets at the academy dreaded being assigned to his command. We all heard about him running his ships and Starbases like his own personal fiefdoms. It's the old story about the officer that spends just a little too much time off world. Combine the loneliness of space with the loneliness of command, and bad things are bound to happen. I just hope Daniels hasn't gone completely off the deep end."_

Hikaru Sulu sat down and quickly tried to eat his lunch. In moments, he would be back on the bridge, organizing the search for the many Vulcan injured. So far, the responses from the planet were promising; because of the destruction of their old world, they were prepared for disaster. Survivors were calling in from compounds and locked areas below ground. Early reports indicated that the casualty numbers were remarkably low, and that damage was 'manageable.' The _Enterprise_ had managed to repel the previous wave of Gorn fighters in the last skirmish. Now they had to hope Daniels would give the Captain, T'Mar and Spock some cooperation and offer support.

"Are you just going to stare at that glass all day?" Sulu glanced up to see Scotty smiling down at him.

Sulu smiled. "My mind was just drifting off."

"I'm not here for long. Just gotta grab a bite to eat, but I can spare a minute." He grabbed a chair and pulled it underneath himself as he sat across from the helmsman. "What's the matter? Trouble with a lassie?"

 _A lassie._ Sulu still had to get used to the engineer's uniquely Scottish word choices. "No, not women trouble. I was just thinking about the Captain and Spock going to see Commodore Daniels. I've heard of him. He's trouble."

"Aye, that's true. Who _hasn't_ heard of him?" Scotty leaned back with a sigh, brushing back through his short thatch of hair. Scotty knew very little about the Commodore, but enough to dislike him.

"I'm a bit worried about this. Daniels wouldn't be my first choice to assist in this, even if he is the closest one to here." Sulu stopped, taking a sip of his light red fruit drink.

"I know he's a bit of a character, but we need the help. What's the problem?" Scotty leaned an elbow on the table.

Sulu leaned in and lowered his voice to keep the conversation between them. "When I was at the academy, my friends and I would cringe at the thought of being sent out there. Frontier Starbase is the kind of isolated place Starfleet sends the cadets with bad records. The ultimate goal was active duty on a starship. That place couldn't more isolated and forgotten. You'd be lucky to see another vessel once every two months."

"A perfect place for Daniels, then, I guess." Scotty pointed a finger.

"Yeah. It's not just him or the place itself; it's Daniels' command style. He runs every one of his assigned posts like he's the fleet admiral. No respect for anyone else's opinion."

"I know the type. That seems a harsh punishment for any cadet."

"Now with the Gorn attack happening, we couldn't be in a worse spot. Having to rely on _him,_ of all people." Sulu figured Daniels would probably want to take over this operation.

"There are plenty of people like him in the bureaucracy. I'm not surprised." The engineer glanced toward some ensigns having a laugh over a board game.

"But what happened to the dedication they made? The oath they took to faithfully serve?"

"That's just it though, Hikaru. After a while, it stopped being about duty, and started being about glory. It's a shame, really."

"I hope that never happens to me." Sulu shook his head.

"I don't think anyone does. It just happens, for who knows what reason." Scotty raised his hands, palms facing up. "You start seeing everything as an opportunity to rise higher. Fellow crew members become obstacles or stepping stones."

Sulu's comm chimed. He reached down and pulled it off his belt. "Sulu here."

 _"_ _Sir, we have almost arrived at New Vulcan."_ Chekov's voice came over the comm. Sulu nodded.

"All right, Chekov. Tell Chapin to bring us into standard orbit." He flipped a channel. "Sulu to medbay. Prepare a team and meet security in transporter bay."

 _"_ _Aye, aye sir."_ A voice responded. He flipped his communicator shut. Quickly shovelling the last of his food into his mouth, he sent down the drink in a single gulp.

"Sorry, I've got to go. We'll pick this up later?"

"Aye. Good luck to you, Sulu."

"Thanks." He swiftly made his way around tables and out of the cafeteria.

Scotty got up and slid the chair under the table. There was a tense feeling in the air everyone seemed to feel. He quickly knocked back his drink as it was set down in front of him. Daniels was like the Captain's opposite. This was not going to be good.

 _I just hope this doesn't blow up in our faces._ He hurried back to the confines of engineering. There he could concentrate on his work.

 **...**

Scotty surveyed his section of command. Officers walked about, busy with monitoring plasma coils, temperature systems, efficiency of the system responses, thrusters and more. Two officers passed by overhead on a catwalk, arguing over theories regarding warp fields and dilithium chambers.

The chief engineer found a screen alive with alerts. He tapped it with his finger and scrolled through. Some of them were scans taken by the Captain or Spock. While he had requested an insight into this matter, he hadn't expected so much to wade through.

He also noticed that a lot of messages were forwarded to him by McCoy, because the doctor was busy. _What are you sending these to me for?_ He would have to spend time down in sickbay consulting with him later. Scotty frowned. Sickbay was his least favourite area of the ship to be. He hated hypo sprays, and for that matter, any one of the scary looking equipment down there.

Tapping open an icon on his screen, he brought up a special log book, entitled GORN FINDINGS. He had decided this was the best way to organize himself. Through this whole ordeal with the creatures, he would log all scanner information and additional data he could come up with on his own time. Among technology and biometric data, some of the scans were of plant life and other things were most likely sent accidentally. Still, he logged them away. _Don't miss the little things, because they might be the key to your little problems._ That, and the fact the science labs would want this information once he was finished.

To make the job slightly more bearable, he would add his own personal opinions as well. Some made the Scottish engineer grin, others made him shiver.

Like it or not, he had to admit that the Gorn were slightly more clever than he thought. Some scans of technological gadgets drew him closer to the screen, enveloping him with wonder. He pulled the seat underneath him in closer and began typing away.

 **...**

 _Stardate 2259.32_

 _Frontier Starbase 17_

Walking into Daniels' large command center made Kirk think of Starfleet headquarters. The soft drone of voices calling back and forth over the communications filled the room. The deck was filled with several computer stations, each alive with activity from several anxious officers absorbed in the incoming data playing on their screens. A few steps led down to a lowered floor. A wide staircase leading to a higher level drew the eye towards the room's focal point – Commodore Daniels' command chair and main command console. It faced toward a large bay window, looking out into space. A few other nervous science officers stood over their screens, their glances moving between their individual screens and the outside. A dark skinned human science officer worked away at the atmospheric calibration unit.

 _Nice throne,_ Kirk scoffed. It was evident that the character description Pike had given Kirk was accurate to the letter, and then some. But Kirk already knew that. Both security officers and Abaran waited outside the doorway as the three of them stopped to take in their surroundings. Spock scanned the room with his eyes for the Commodore. He would stand out because of his charcoal-grey command uniform, contrary to the usual red, yellow and blue officer's shirts. _Would_ stand out; Spock couldn't see the man anywhere.

"I just want to know one thing - did anything come through?" Daniels' voice intoned from behind the chair, rising above the ambient sounds. A hand waved off to the side. The three climbed down the steps into the room.

"Sir?"Kirk's face contorted. _How did he know about that?_

"I assume you are here because the machine caused a _rip_. Did anything come through?" He sounded exasperated, repeating his question slowly but forcefully. He eased back in his chair.

"We were attacked. They took my father." There was an edge to T'Mar's voice that hadn't been there before.

"Then it works!" Daniels' eyes lit up. For a brief moment, he seemed to be lost in his own thoughts of what that information meant.

Kirk put a hand on T'Mar's arm and stepped forward. "Commodore, with all due respect, what the hell is going on here?"

Daniels pushed off his chair. "Unlike you, Mister Kirk, I did not get my command of a starship because my 'daddy'" he almost spat out the word, "died in some heroic blaze of glory. Some of us have to earn our way in life." Clasping his hands behind his back, he returned his glance to the screen.

 _Mister Kirk._ The Captain stiffened. "People died back there!"

Daniels remained facing away, making imaginary writing in the air with his hand. "I'm sure history will make note of their sacrifice."

Kirk didn't know whether Daniels was brushing him off, or if he was just heartless. His brows lowered further, glaring at the commodore. He was about to step forward when Spock put out a hand in front of him, his eyes shifting from his captain to the commodore.

"Commodore, you realize that the Helios device has fallen into hostile hands. If the Gorn learn to harness its power, they will be all but unstoppable." His look hardened with seriousness.

"Isn't that where you two come in?"

"Sir." He raised an eyebrow.

 _Here we go._ Rolling his eyes, Daniels exhaled and looked toward the confused Vulcan. "You two are supposed to be the 'heroes'. Starfleet's 'rising stars' or so I read somewhere." He raised his hands before looking off to the side, obviously hating to repeat that fact. "If that truly is the case, I would advise that you get the machine _back_ before there are any more 'casualties.'"

"What have I done...?" T'Mar looked deeply pained as she stared at the floor.

"What you've done, T'Mar, is help create a machine that will shape the future of Starfleet." He smiled broadly, sweeping his hands in the air in front of him. He didn't meet her gaze, instead looking out the large window at another part of his station.

What had _she_ done? Kirk reached out to grab T'Mar's arm. "Wait...you knew about this?" His jaw hung open in disbelief.

"T'Mar?" Spock, too, was in shock. He looked confused, almost betrayed.

T'Mar quickly strode toward her friend. "Spock, you must believe me." Her hands rested on his shoulders. "I did this to protect our people. That device was supposed to help rebuild our planet. If I had known that I would have -"

They were interrupted by the red alert siren going off, echoing through the station's many corridors. Kirk turned his head.

"Commodore, were picking up ships incoming fast!"

"On screen!" All eyes watched the view screen as over a dozen winged vessels swooped down on the station, unleashing a volley of yellow burst shots at the stations hull. Explosions rattled the rounded exterior plating, sending pieces of debris and fire shooting out in all directions. The ships circled to station, forming a swirl of enemy fire as they made passes.

Inside the room, red lights flashed, casting the glare on all their faces. Spock looked around and then to stepped toward Daniels. "Commodore, where is your communications bay? We must notify Starfleet at once."

The commodore leaned in and glared angrily at Spock. "This is my station, _I'll_ notify Starfleet." Two officers came up behind Daniels, each armed with a phaser rifle. He took a slow walk toward Kirk. The two locked gazes with each other.

 _This is your fault._ The kid captain wasn't going to run the show here, nor was his Vulcan friend. This was Daniel's Starbase.

"Prepare my shuttle for evacuation!" The commodore left, escorted by his two yellow shirted officers.

 _Now he's running away. Coward._ Kirk shook his head. "I knew I hated that guy."

Another rumble shook the station, causing Kirk, Spock, T'Mar and several other to lose their footing. Sparks rained down from the ceiling. Kirk got up and reached an arm out to help T'Mar.

"Captain , I am familiar with this Starbase, I can lead you towards the communications bay on the upper level."

The Captain and commander shared a look, then took off running down the steps. Several officers frantically went between consoles, receiving damage reports from all over. Ahead of them, the doorway circuits exploded. Fire and debris came down from the ceiling, blocking the door.

"What the hell was that?"

"I do not know." Before Spock could find a way around, the ceiling sprinklers came on. An automated computer voice called out to all those in range.

"The fire is under control. Please remain at your assigned post." When the fire was extinguished, the two made their way back down the stairs to where they had checked their phasers.

"We need our weapons back."

"Agreed." Spock and Kirk slowed in front of a dark skinned science officer guarding the weapons locker.

"Help yourself to whatever you need, Captain." The two nodded to him and ran in. Kirk grabbed a phaser rifle of the table next holstered his phaser. Standard Starfleet issue rifles fired a three-round burst shot, and had a higher magazine volume and overall range. Its secondary fire utilized an enhanced dilithium deflector shield, deflecting and/or absorbing enemy fire.

A wry smile formed on his face."These ought to do."

Spock observed a rifle before clipping it to his back. "These will suffice." They journeyed down another flight of stairs to where they had first met their escort. To their left, the wall blew out with a loud bang. A young officer lay against a clear panel, holding a shrapnel injury to his arm. Blood stained his uniform. The others were too busy to notice, even though they were all briefly startled. A female red shirt and a male yellow shirt strained to listen to the communications coming in.

"Hey!" Kirk gestured for a doctor to come. "This man needs help, now!" The nurse ran up quickly, pulling out her tricorder.

The doors ahead of Spock slid open, as two officers, a science crew and a commander, hurtled themselves away from the seemingly empty room.

"Come on, come on, run!" One of them yelled to Kirk. He continued into the room.

 _What's going on here, there's noth-_

 _BANG!_ The ceiling exploded, causing more debris, conduits and flames to come crashing down in the room's center over the red couches back to back.

The automated computer voice came on. "Fire suppression systems have failed."

"We gotta put out that fire." Kirk searched the room for extinguishers, but there weren't any.

"I believe we can override the power grid with our tricorders."

Kirk acknowledged his first officer's suggestion and held up his tricorder. The screen highlighted the power running to the automatic extinguisher – it was disabled. Using the signal from his tricorder, he accessed the system and tripped the manual override. The ceiling sprinklers came on, dousing the fire with a white mist. As soon as the fire was out, the two officers ambled over the debris.

"The turbo lift will take us to the mess hall." They darted into the lift at the far end of the room and shut the doors.

"Wait, why the mess hall?" Kirk's face scrunched.

"I overheard that security is sweeping the decks and evacuating personnel. It would be prudent to stay close to them, as they should be clearing high traffic spaces, such as the eating areas." Spock clasped his hands behind his back. "Also, if power should fail, I believe we would lower our chances of being caught in a turbolift by using them as infrequently as possible."

Kirk nodded. His first officer's Vulcan logic made him the best second-in-command he could ask for. "If those Gorn have designs on boarding the station, we should move with security. It would help to have some support should things get ugly."

"Indeed." Spock knew things could get _very_ bad. He had seen what they had done to New Vulcan. With thousands of people on the Starbase, casualty numbers could become extremely high. They had to stop the Gorn here and now.

Before the station was lost.

 **...**

 _Stardate 2259.32_

 _En route to Biology Laboratories_

 _What in tarnation am I going to do with this?_

Doctor Leonard "Bones" McCoy was perplexed. He had tried to isolate the cause of the Gorn virus, but came up with nothing. It would help if he had gotten more equipment from the med bays on the station. Still, he had gotten some samples to the laboratories for analysis. That was a relief.

It was then that he had heard the station was under attack. He wasn't too surprised that the Gorn would follow them all the way here.

 _Just my rotten luck._

He had to put a rush on the sample analysis, despite the evacuation in progress. He just couldn't stand to see his patients suffer so much while he searched for a cure. When the red alert sirens went off, he pressed on working. The station's main medical lab was receiving new patients coming in from all decks because of the explosions. When it became evident that the station wasn't going to repel the attack, he ordered the other doctors and security personnel to get the sick and injured up to the shuttle bays. He would have to get the samples from the bio labs himself. Without those samples, finding a cure would take so much longer. For some, it might be too long.

 _Dammit._ He ground his teeth. If only he could find his way around without someone almost running him down. Men and women tore past him. Security guards armed to the teeth patrolled the halls, helping injured out. It took all of McCoy's strength to resist reaching out to help each one. He needed to get to those samples. For everyone's sake.

The turbo lift ride wasn't any different. The humming sound of its movement made it hard to think. What was he going to do if the labs were locked? How would he get those samples if security wouldn't let him by? As soon as the doors allowed him to leave, he quickly turned and strode down the hall.

"Doctor, you need to come this way. We're evacuating." A man in a grey vest put a hand on McCoy's shoulder, guiding him in the opposite direction.

"Don't you think I know that?" McCoy shouted back. Realizing he was being too forceful, he took a breath. "Listen, those lizard things, attacking this station? They carry a nasty virus, and that virus is endangering a lot of people right now. I have some very important samples-"

"I'm sorry, you need to go. We haven't got-"

McCoy's heart beat faster. "Those samples are under analysis. I can't find a cure without them."

The officer's voice became louder. "Look around. Everyone's leaving, labs are being cleared now. You need to go."

" _My_ patients are depending on me! Some of them are _your_ engineering staff! Do you want to tell their families you left the cure behind?"

The security officer thought for a moment. "Okay. Fine, you have five minutes. That's it. If you're not out then, I have to leave without you. There are still tons of people to evacuate."

McCoy nodded, his mouth open with relief. "Thank you, that's all I need." The doctor took off running down the hallway, sidestepping a few worried officers in red shirts. Down the corridors he flew like a rocket, passing doorways, abandoned computer stations and past a few damaged sections of wall.

 _Almost there._ He turned the corner to his left slowed to a quick walk.

That's when he noticed it. The hallways were quiet. Most of the lights were off.

 _Not a sound._ The doctor's heart beat picked up its pace.

"Hello?" He called out, but heard only his echo. Nothing. Just the station wall shuddering and the warning sirens. McCoy moved to open the door to the lab. There had to be someone still there. The scientists knew the importance of this.

But, because of _who_ it was that was invading, he could hardly blame them for running. Half of him wanted to do the same thing. But only _after_ he got the samples. There had to be security around here somewhere, to fight off any boarding parties. He just had to make his way in and retrieve analysis.

He walked forward through the dimly lit hallway, eyeing the doorway leading in.

In the darkness of the lab, machines hummed quietly. Green lights cast an eerie glow on the floors. Computers lay idle where only minutes earlier they had been manned by technicians.

The doors slid open with a swish. On the cold floor tiles, the sound of claws clicking on the tiles echoed through the quiet.


	7. Chapter 7

_Chapter 5_

 _Stardate 2259.32_

 _Frontier Starbase 17 – Mess Hall_

Security officer Jared Dempsey looked back over his partner's shoulder at the door. Mess hall was clear, but security teams were already getting reports of intruders on other levels. It wouldn't be long before they came here, whoever they were. To his left the turbolift opened, to reveal to officers he didn't recognize. They weren't security, he knew that.

"Where is the _Enterprise_?" Steven Radford asked. He gripped his phaser rifle tightly.

"They went back to New Vulcan to pick up injured. We could really use them right now." Colton Hayes' eyes shifted to the wall as another rumble rocked the station.

Dempsey spoke up. "Who are we dealing with?"

"I don't know, the commander said the ships weren't in the database."

"Bravo team says something just breached bio labs." Radford said, holstering his communicator.

 _Never good._ Dempsey could think of a number of disturbing reasons they could go _there._ "If I wanted action, I would have requested a post on a starship." He was starting to regret not requesting transfer. From the moment he had been sent, he hated it. It was so isolated. Now they weren't alone, but not the way he had imagined.

 **...**

Kirk did a quick study of the room he stepped in. They were just outside mess hall. There were weapons and crates in the room. As usual, there were couches and plant arrangements. What he didn't expect to see were all the security officers. Force fields, a medical gurney, supply boxes, and some med gear were set up. Four officers clad in dark blue shirts and grey vests were already injured, resting on and against the couches, some holding their shoulders. One sat with his eyes clothes breathing steadily, his baseball cap sitting tight on his head. Another one stood against the wall, looking side from side to side while clutching his phaser. Three more were talking in a group. Not exactly the cavalry Kirk hoped for.

Spock nodded silently to one of the officers. He noted one thing of interest – the officers were primarily young, in their early twenties, he surmised. The room appeared to be a stopover for injured that had since been cleared.

"Do you think they'll evacuate?" An officer said, not noticing Kirk and Spock had arrived.

"With Daniels running the show, who knows?"

A third officer shook his head. "Great."

Kirk smiled. It looked like the feeling of disdain for Daniels was wide spread. _No surprise there_. "Hey, what's going on in there?"

"Sir!" The three stiffened up as they finally recognized Captain Kirk and Spock, both their senior officers. "We've just cleared the deck. Don't worry about the injuries; they're from the station rocking around. Nothing too serious."

"At ease, men." Spock put a hand up. "Is it safe to proceed?"

"Yes sir, but not for long." Dempsey put up a hand. "Uh sirs, it really is an honour to meet you. I heard about what happened at Earth with the Romulans, and -"

"Thank you, but we've got to hurry." Kirk and Spock rushed out and into the mess hall. It was multi-levelled with plenty of spaces to eat. Sparks shot out of the wall to their right, and multiple small fires smouldered in piles of debris. Three security officers with orange shirts and grey vests ran past them toward the exit. One stayed behind, awaiting the Captain and first officer.

"What's the status?" Kirk said firmly.

The nervous young security officer looked about the room, unable to stay completely still. "They say there are incoming ships." He trailed off, apparently made more uneasy by Kirk's presence.

Kirk's head whipped over to Spock's direction. "We're going to surrounded here pretty quick."

"Weapons ready, prepare for -"

 _BOOM!_ The station jostled, causing the three to stumble backward. A yellowish beam arced down from the ceiling. Kirk could hear a metallic clinking noise, followed by a hissing sound. The area just ahead became filled with a cloud of smoke.

Several bursts of yellow energy sprayed out of the cloud. Kirk slumped down behind a box and peered over the top with his phaser rifle in hand. There was growling coming from a figure he couldn't make out.

 _AH-TAH-TAH-TAH-TAH-TAH!_ The large, muscular blue Gorn stepped out of the mist. It could have been seven feet tall. It had metallic shield plating on its chest, arms and legs. Maybe it signified rank. In its hands, a copper-coloured weapon sprayed out shots. Kirk fired several shots, dispatching it quickly.

Another one came from around the other side of the tall rectangular wall console ahead of them. Spock aimed and fired. Several shots were exchanged before it fell dead.

Kirk got out of hiding and moved forward. A slender Gorn, like the ones on New Vulcan crouched behind a couch. Its head poked out from behind. Seeing Kirk, it raised its weapon. Kirk brought his rifle to just under his jaw and fired. A few shots downed the attacker. Running up a few steps to the left, Kirk recorded what he saw in his mind: a plant, three turned over grey tables, debris spilled down through the railing above. The third level, lined with tables, had a computer screen that had been shot out.

Yellow beams rained down from the upper level on Kirk's right. Two more Gorn fighters shot from behind the glass railing and through the plants above. Kirk ducked but to no avail. The railing shattered around him, rendering him wide open. Spock quickly fired a few shots up at the attackers, allowing Kirk to aim and fire as well. Glass shattered and the two Gorn fell, in quick succession.

 _Clear. For the moment._ Kirk put the rifle on his back clip and pulled out his hand phaser.

Shots rang out, barely missing him. He grabbed the metal rail and flipped over the side, hanging off with one hand. His free arm straightened and fired off a round of shots, downing the Gorn fighter. A second one appeared to the left. He shifted his torso to avoid some shots, and then fired back with pinpoint accuracy. _Another one down._

As he jumped down to the floor, Kirk noticed Spock looked at the floor. There were several Gorn bodies and debris, but amongst them he saw the weapons they were using. The Vulcan was pointing out some egg-shaped objects.

"They appear to be explosive devices."

 _Grenades._ Kirk picked up a couple and holstered them. He might need a little extra firepower later. Jamming through the ceiling in two places, two giant copper coloured spikes jutted out from the ceiling. Sparks rained down from it. It looked obviously out of place against the Starbase's white and grey ceiling.

As the two ran up the stairs, two more beamed in. Kirk and Spock quickly dropped behind overturned tables. Raising their weapons, they exchanged fire. Shots ricocheted off the rails and tables. Glass shattered near one of the Gorn, causing it to recoil. Spock grunted as a shot caught his arm, but recovered quickly. After a few seconds, the Gorn were downed.

Two more fighters arrived in an arcing yellow beam. They growled and hissed as they went into cover. Kirk glanced down at his phaser rifle. It was almost empty. Spock noticed his rifle was low on energy.

"I am running low on ammunition." Spock shouted over the sound of shots pelting the tables and whizzing by over their heads.

"I know! Me too!" Kirk could barely peek past the table's edge to see the ammunition charger. Using his tricorder, he could see the outlines of the Gorn just up the stairs.

 _The grenades._ He clasped the small object and pulled it off his belt. Waiting for the perfect moment, he popped up and lobbed the grenade between the Gorn. They stopped shooting and recoiled in surprise.

 _BANG!_ An explosion of yellow sent the Gorn flying back. A few loud screeches quickly cut off. Kirk grimaced, but quickly jumped up and reloaded his weapon. Two more Gorn beamed in just after. One went running around to the upper platform to the right.

 _How many more?_ Kirk exhaled and bent low, aiming his phaser. A round of shots went back and forth. The Gorn collapsed. Spock raised his Vulcan repeater and dispatched the other one.

Once on the highest level, Kirk saw that the whole way down each way was illuminated orange by the flames burning off to their left. More tables lay on their side.

A metallic clink. A hiss. _Smoke grenade!_ Scouring the cloud, he couldn't see the oncoming Gorn. Spock moved behind a pillar, holding his phaser rifle to his chest. Kirk placed his hand phaser back on his belt and retrieved his rifle. _It's gonna take a lot of firepower to get to those giants._

Two large, blue Gorn walked forward, firing in the Captain's direction. Kirk rose to fire. Multiple shots hit him. It felt like fire shooting up his side. His personal shielding device repelled some of it, but not all. Spock appeared from behind the pillar and fired, quickly joined by Kirk. Crimson beams shot out of each rifle in groups of three. After several shots, the two large Gorn crumpled with a screech.

The two repeated lunging into cover and shooting, eventually taking down two more Gorn. They proved difficult; the agile, wiry Gorn were weaker, but quicker, and their weapons still packed a punch. A third Gorn leaned over the side railing, firing down to the floor below.

What was he doing? Was he disoriented? Kirk squinted with confusion. Smoke choked him. He let out a few coughs.

 _The officer!_ He was still down there. Earlier, Kirk had heard shots ringing out from a Starfleet issue phaser. Kirk focused his mind, going down on one knee. Balancing himself, he aimed and fired, dropping the last Gorn invader.

With a swish, the doors ahead and to the right slid open. They were the only way out of the room, and yet more reptilian attackers spilled out. Only two, this time a lean Gorn and a blue bulky one. Spock and Kirk sprayed off several more red energy streaks into the bodies of the Gorn, barely giving them a second to shoot back. Both went down almost simultaneously.

Spock rushed over to attend to his injured Captain. Without turning, Kirk could hear the Vulcan's ragged breath just behind his head. He waved him off and went left, done beside the row of vacant tables and chairs to look down to the deck below.

"Officer!" Kirks eyes flashed with urgency. If he had been seriously injured by the Gorn shots, his adrenaline was so high he could not feel anything. The security officer came out from behind a long structure along the floor. He called up to acknowledge, and then rushed out to meet up with the other officers. They were most likely evacuating other personnel by now. Relief washed over Kirk, causing him to wince at the pain from the injuries he had.

Tension was high as they entered the hall. It was dark and smoky. Debris littered the floor. Several fires burned, but aside from the rumbles from the attack outside and the crackling flames, it was silent.

 _Something is wrong._ Spock squinted through the smoke. On the floor, two officers laid limp side by side. Kirk noticed. Their distant stares in no particular direction, the blood...

 _It's a trap._ Kirk removed his tricorder from his belt and activated each of the small white objects on the ground. Each brought up a rectangular translucent force field. Kirk and Spock took the closest ones. From behind toppled debris, another team of two Gorn fired. The energy pulses made different tones as they were absorbed by the shielding. Kirk and Spock reached around the field, squeezing the triggers.

 _Two down._ The limp bodies of the two reptiles lay sprawled out. Two more came in, weapons hot. A third, larger blue one stomped toward them through the smoke.

 _Enough of this._ Anger seared in Kirk's veins. He unclipped the other grenade from his belt and threw it at the Gorn. It stuck to the chest of the larger one.

 _BOOM!_ It flew backward, limbs flying everywhere. Whipping out his phaser rifle, Kirk unleashed a barrage on his opponents. Spock's blue phaser fire hit them with devastating force. The two went flying back, sliding for about a foot on the floor before they came to a rest, still.

The hall became quiet again. Kirk listened. Distant rumbles of weapons fire. Fire crackling.

His communicator beeped. Kirk grabbed it and opened it up.

 _"_ _Jim! I'm surrounded by those giant lizard things! Could really use your help!"_ McCoy's voice sounded urgent, whispering as loudly as he could. Kirk shared a concerned look with Spock.

 _"_ _Captain, we've lost contact with defence teams in labs section 1-A."_ T'Mar listed it out, confirming Kirk's suspicions. His friend's life was in danger.

"We're on our way." Kirk holstered his comm.

The next room was remarkably clean. The floors were still shiny and new looking. Couches lined the room's middle. Three out of four turbo lifts were dark and inoperable. Only the one in the far right corner still had the green lights on at the door's corners. Spock ran in first.

"Captain, we must go."

"One moment." Kirk held up a finger. Running to a recharge port, Kirk powered his weapon and clipped it to his back. He wheeled around on a heel and ran into the lift. His facial expression hardened with determination.

 **...**

 _Stardate 2259.32_

 _Frontier Starbase – Somewhere near the Biology Laboratories_

Silent. That was the one thing McCoy needed to be.

He closed his eyes and breathed deeply and quietly.

The doctor stood stiff against the wall, trying not to alert the Gorn lurking in the shadows.

His Starfleet training should've prepared him to handle situations like this. As far as McCoy was concerned, nature was roundhouse kicking nurture's butt. But then, when would they have any classes for sneaking around while deadly reptiles hunted you down and tried to kill you? This was not something anyone could've warned him.

Sweat beaded on McCoy's forehead as he gripped the edge of the wall with one white-knuckled hand. The corridor was oppressively hot; he'd had to bypass two halls already because of the flames. He squinted his eyes, trying to see through the thin haze. A door swished open down the hall and a dark shadow emerged, pausing for a second to scan the hallway for personnel. McCoy gulped as it stepped into the dim light. _Why, he's got to be almost 7 feet tall!_ McCoy sucked in a soft breath. _He'd make one heck of a point guard..._

After a few seconds, the intruder lowered his head and uttered a low growl, lumbering in the other direction. McCoy released his death grip on the wall and leaned against the metal plating, dragging the sleeve of his medical sweater across his face. He had been waiting here for at least ten minutes; every time he was sure the coast was clear, another tidal wave came crashing in. _Sweet mother of God, how does Jim do it?_

He stuffed his hand into his pants pocket and felt the empty space where he was going to put the flat sample containers before leaving the biology lab. Before he could enter the lab, he heard a sound that made his blood curdle. If he lived to be a hundred and thirty, he'd never forget the way their guttural speech echoed off the walls and ceiling.

 _That awful growling and screeching._ It was something worthy of McCoy's worst childhood nightmares.

He could only think of the rows of teeth and the sharp claws. And teeth.

And the weapons they carried. He didn't want to see them used. Ever.

The samples themselves would've been fairly easy to find. He knew precisely where they were; the copying of the analytical data from the xenovirologists would only take a few minutes at most. As soon as he had heard that awful sound, he scanned the room. His tricorder revealed the labs were crawling with Gorn. He wasn't sure, but there might have been people inside too, though their readings were...strange.

Quickly, he threw himself out of hiding and ran a few steps, sliding behind a box. If the Gorn didn't kill him, a heart attack might. Around a corner up the hall, a fire burned. He could hear distant Gorn chatter. And that awful clicking of claws on the floor.

 _If I get out of this alive..._ At that moment, McCoy really wished he was back in Mississippi sipping a mint julep.

McCoy peered over the edge of his debris. Lingering smoke and darkness made it difficult to see. When he detected nothing, he crouched and scissor stepped around the corridor and behind another box. He looked around.

 _Jim is always in these spots. What would he do?_ He could try contacting them, but he dared not take his eyes off of the halls, or his attention away for a moment. It could mean his life.

 _Focus, Leonard._ His heart was thrumming off of his rib cage. He closed his eyes and then opened them. There had to be a way around. He would feel a lot safer in a room then in the hall. He glanced over his shoulder before advancing.

Left, then right. The coast seemed clear.

 _Hrrraaa!_ A noise came from the shadows to the left. Panicking, he crept along as fast as he could, trying to be quiet. The colour drained from his face when he saw the doors. They were locked. His head whipped around, trying to look for another way.

 _Come on, something, anything – the support beam!_ A rectangular post extending from floor to ceiling was near him. He pushed himself up against the side. As the Gorn passed, he moved around the side, avoiding detection.

The Gorn walked on, but then stopped abruptly. It arched its back, extending its head upward. It sniffed the air, and then flicked its tongue a few times. McCoy was sure he could smell the sweat on him. His heart caught.

The Gorn huffed and then continued on patrolling. _Relief._

It was short lived. An officer in a red shirt paced the halls carrying what looked like a crowbar in his hand. He was breathing heavily. It was as if he was a zombie, only this infection was probably worse. The prospect of McCoy ending up like that sent the doctor's mind into overdrive. Since two earlier crew members had been avoided, and one was carrying a phaser rifle, this wasn't so bad.

McCoy shuddered. He could guess what he would _do_ with that pipe. Probably break his bones. The officers looked almost programmed; they walk out a distance, stare blankly into the darkness, and then turn and walk somewhere else.

 _Now!_ The guards turned and walked in separate directions, both facing away from McCoy. He quickly crouch ran into an open lab room. It was dark, and cold, but he was a little less vulnerable. Computer consoles were dark. Tall bio tanks sat idle. McCoy hurried past, breathing heavily.

Footsteps. Behind him. He didn't turn around.

He gasped. Jerked down. Behind his crate, a Gorn stalked by the window. An infected crew member walked away out the door, unaware of McCoy's presence.

A doorway leading to the next room revealed a small space, about closet sized. _Perfect!_

Quickly he scrambled behind a tank, then a console. Only feet separated him from safety. To get there, he had to pass by an open door. His tricorder showed the bright green outlines of two Gorn and some strange moving object. He peered around the edge.

 _Clear._ He slid himself across the floor to the side of the console next to the closet, and then crouch ran into it. Slumping down against the wall of the space, he inhaled the breath that hadn't seemed to come for a long time. Sweat drenched him.

 _I made it._ Though he was safe for now, he was also trapped. A healing station and a weapon recharge port were the only other things with him. The recharge station was useless; he had no weapon.

 _Maybe I can get one of those rods._ He grabbed the doors and struggled to shut them manually.

"Rrrrr..." The doors shut only half way. A Gorn couldn't get in, but a gun could. A grenade could.

 _Spock, Jim, where are you?_ He couldn't wait forever. The tension had made him fidgety. What a way to go, trapped in a heat box.

 **...**

 _Stardate 2259.32_

 _Frontier Starbase – Abandoned Halls_

Breath caught in Kirk's throat.

He couldn't react in time. A red shirted officer strode toward the open doorway on their left, a phaser rifle in his hand.

There was a metallic noise. Like a machine gun, yellow beams shot into the officer's torso. He groaned and collapsed to the ground into the next room.

Kirk shot a pained look at the fallen crewmen; behind him two other red shirts had fallen victim. One flopped back over the couch, the other lay on his side. They didn't stand a chance. So help him, Kirk wouldn't let that happen again when he was around. He shuddered when he saw the cold, vacant gaze of the dead young officer. Gaping wounds bled from his chest.

 _Focus._ He pursed his lips and exhaled. At the far edge of the room behind them, the door was locked. Yellow lights highlighted the corners and seam of the door. Sparks shot out from the edges.

Kirk pointed toward the open doorway where the shots had come from. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say that was a turret."

"If we can get close enough, we may be able to hack it with our tricorders." Spock said, looking out into the hall. They couldn't move in front without tripping the movement sensors.

 _Hack it, huh?_ "Or we could take it out the old fashioned way." By "old fashioned" Kirk meant shoot it to pieces. He smiled. "Stay in cover." He crouched and moved toward the door post.

Spock took the long way around, behind the L-shaped rectangular couches in the room's center, ending up at the other door post. A lean Gorn fighter prowled near the turret.

Kirk couldn't see a way to get closer to the turret. "Damn, could really use some cover." Pulling out his tricorder, he attempted to get a read on the turret. It looked like a bronze egg on several bent legs, like a spider. The computer access console looked like a cone. If only he was a bit closer... _yes!_ The signal registered and connected up to the console. Working quickly, he realigned signal frequencies to reprogram the turret. Though he couldn't understand Gorn tech, he hoped this was going to work.

When the signals rerouted, he confirmed the changes. The turret opened and stood up on its legs. The three green lasers turned red, and the giant egg-shaped turret body turned to face the Gorn. It screeched with surprise, but before it could raise its weapon the turret shot it down. When the Gorn was dead, the turret went green and collapsed back into a sitting position.

Kirk and Spock moved quickly through the curved hall and stepped over the Gorn to the next room.

It was dark, as usual. Light shone in from the next room.

Something moved behind the window. Kirk and Spock ducked behind supplies.

"No, no, NO!" The red shirted cried, backing up to the window. His eyes were wild with fear. Kirk looked over the box he hid behind.

A hovering, diamond-shaped drone hovered toward the officer. On its front, the dome opened to revealing an extending needle point. Two robotic arms on the bottom reached out to grab the officer's arms.

"Spock, what _is_ that thing?" Kirk watched as the crewmen struggled with the drone. With a thrust, the drone pulled the officer back, jamming the needle into his spine. The ensign threw his head back and groaned, before falling out of sight.

"I believe it is injecting the crewmen with some type of venom. I would suspect that this is how the infection is spread." Spock watched as the officer stood back up at the window. His eyes glowed orangish-yellow. Liquid oozed down his uniform and his face. It was frightening.

"Take it out." Kirk shuddered. He could think of all those others who were wondering around looking like _that_. Two red shirts entered the room. The first circled once at the doorway and then left back for the supply room, while the other waited just inside the door.

"Where am I going?"

 _Who's he talking to?_ Kirk could see the man just staring at the wall, but a flicker of anguish crossed his face.

Spock and Kirk could hear his shallow breaths as he stood, back arched forward and arms hanging. Finally, he turned and walked out.

Kirk was first to move, crouch-running below the line of boxes and out the door. He holstered his phaser and crept closer and closer. His footsteps were silent. Behind a large computer console, he got up behind the man, heart racing and adrenaline surging. He had to keep the man quiet. A choke hold would suffice.

A quick punch. Kirk's arms flew up. Tightened. A brief struggle.

The man went limp. Kirk helped him down gently and grabbed the metal pipe he had been holding. He set it down gingerly. Creeping around the limp body, he pushed himself against the wall and peered around the corner at the second man. The zombie-like red shirt stalked to the corner. Kirk slid himself over to the flat table console in the room's middle and then stood up, moving toward the man cautiously. Spock raised his phaser and aimed, just in case.

Kirk repeated the previous move he had used. After a struggle, the man collapsed against Kirk. He set him down slowly. The Captain nodded curtly to his first officer. As he turned to the door, he saw something move.

His phaser flew up, pointing at the door. Through the narrow triangular glass windows on the sides, he saw the drone. Only it didn't have the needle point out. It had a laser.

Kirk and Spock paced forward. As the door opened, he stunned the drone. It fell to the floor with a clank. Flipping his phaser to semi-automatic on kill setting, he fired away. The drone exploded into pieces.

"The value of discretion cannot be overstated." Spock assured. Kirk walked around the curving hall to the next door. Just outside, two more crewmen patrolled into and out of a room on the right. Kirk waited for the right time before moving out into the hall.

"If we are careful I believe we can continue undetected."

"Good idea." Kirk whispered back to his first officer. It was nice to have his calmly assured confidence. He crouched and paced toward the officer, choking him unconscious.

 _"_ _You guys any closer?"_ McCoy's voice sounded frightened, panicked even over the comm.

"I assure you, doctor we are moving in your direction." Spock kept up with Kirk, following him into the dark storage room after the next infected.

 _"_ _Well, can you_ move _a little faster?"_

Kirk winced, hoping the crewman didn't hear McCoy. "Hang in there, Bones!" he whispered as loudly and as quietly as he could. He hid behind a rectangular table solid to the floor. Shadows of the empty storage shelves and L shaped computer wall controls.

 _"_ _Easy for you to say."_ McCoy eyed a Gorn passing nearby through the crack in his door. To McCoy the reptilian beasts were scarier than whatever monsters hid under a Klingon's bed.

Kirk grabbed the second infected crewmember's neck with both arms from behind. Out the window, he saw a turret just outside, facing away. Another crewman paced about, infected like the others. Kirk set his phaser to maximum stun.

"My readings indicate the power supply to the labs is being diverted somehow." T'Mar said over Spock's comm. He raised an eyebrow. _Interesting..._

Kirk had already left the room. Crouching behind three medical supply boxes outside the door he just came in, he aimed at the man down the hall. A blue ball of energy shot out, hitting the infected crewwoman. With a gasp, she fell. Luckily, she missed the burning fire just a few feet over.

When Kirk got back, Spock had opened up a ceiling maintenance shaft. Kirk got on one knee and gave Spock a boost up into the shaft. Spock turned around and helped Kirk up into the small entry way.

"Well Spock? Right or left?" He pointed into the shaft.

"If we go right, that should lead us into an open hallway. That would be inadvisable, considering the enemy's numbers."

"Where does the other lead?"

"Into a bio lab nearby, though it may be damaged."

 _No brainer here._ "Left it is, then." He crawled into the dark space. Mist filled the tube. Left, right, left. The tubing wound back and forth, making it slightly difficult to turn. Finally, they reached the next opening. Kirk unlocked the small door and slid down into the hole, dropping from the edge.

The window was the first thing he saw; to the right, a turret. On the left flames and debris. More copper spikes had pierced the ceiling, caving in the hall outside the room. Wires, metal and other debris spilled out from above.

It was very hot inside the lab. The door was sparking, but luckily open. Two large analysis tanks sat empty in the room. Kirk recognized an epidermal analyser, something like he had seen in McCoy's sickbay a lot. After all, he did get hurt a lot.

The two officers moved past another smaller fire and behind a cart. An infected man heaved deeply a few feet away. Spock noted that they needed to move – a Gorn was moving up the hall in their direction. Kirk knocked the crewman out and both he and Spock ran quietly into the room.

With expert speed, Kirk opened the vent with his tricorder. He boosted Spock up. Spock helped him up. Together they went along another ceiling vent. It went straight, left, right and then straight. Kirk reached down to his waist and touched his communicator.

"How are you holding up, Bones?"

 _"_ _Oh, I'm just damned peachy. Could you hurry it up?"_

Spock answered. "We are almost at your location."

 _"_ _Well, I hope you_ almost _find me alive."_ McCoy sucked in as a Gorn toward the closet he was in. It stopped for a moment before leaving.

Kirk and Spock dropped down and scanned the room. Box to hide with. Large tank. Another lab, obviously. A Gorn passed by the window, prompting Spock to take cover.

On Kirk's tricorder, he read an infected crew member moving into their room. As he readied himself, something else caught his eye; three more human officers, some distance away, were doing what looked like a tribal dance facing each other. His face contorted.

 _What the heck?_ If they weren't infected, he would say they hadn't discovered fire yet, or that they were high on something.

Sneaking around the console, an osteogenic stimulator caught Kirk's eye. Again, something he was familiar with. His quick-thinking, Starfleet-trained mind picked up way more details than he cared to, but it was almost automatic for him. Coming out from behind a tank, Spock reached over and grabbed the infected's neck where it met his shoulder. The man's back arched, and he fell.

 _Vulcan nerve pinch._ Kirk had seen Spock implement this tactic before, but never had he been so grateful for its silence. They rapidly proceeded forward to the doctor's location. Kirk slid behind a table, waited for a Gorn to pass the doorway, and then scurried behind a tank. Spock came up beside him, preceded by the quiet thumping of his feet.

Inside, McCoy started. Air escaped his lungs as he saw the familiar face of his friend and Captain. _Anything but those darn reptiles!_

"The door is locked." Spock said, grabbing one side. Kirk grabbed the other and pulled.

McCoy frowned. "Well, of course it's locked, you pointy-eared son of a..." He paused. "I had to lock myself in here." The metal doors shifted open, allowing the Vulcan and the blonde-haired Captain inside. "Okay, we just need to gather my samples and-"

Sirens blared out. The low drone of lighting systems reengaging echoed overhead. Every hall became illuminated.

 _"_ _I am uncertain how, but power has just been restored to the area."_ T'Mar looked up, and then back to her screen. Power flow was gone from decks 18 through 21, and sent through the bio-lab section. The station beeped, causing T'Mar to lean in closer. Someone was rooting through the information. _"Captain, the creatures have gained access to the lab's computer systems."_

"Do you think they could be after the information on the Helios machine?" McCoy asked, crossing his arms.

"The doctor may be correct. Despite the Gorn's animalistic appearance, they are a rather sophisticated race. If they were to obtain sufficient information on how to operate the device..." Spock answered, looking to the Captain.

The captain rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah. End of the world as we know it. Got it. Let's stop them. Bones, you coming with us?"

"I'll take my chances staying here." Immediately after finishing that sentence, he regretted it. _More quality time with those...things?_ What was he thinking?

 _"_ _I have marked the terminals on your tricorders. You must destroy them before the Gorn can access the information."_

"Thank you, T'Mar." Spock nodded to McCoy before leaving. Kirk gave McCoy a pat on the shoulder and smiled.

McCoy flipped open his comm. "Hey, T'Mar? How's about you beam me out of here? I can't stand another minute waiting for those lizards to kill me."

 _"_ _One moment, doctor."_

"Thank you." McCoy disappeared in a whirl of light.

T'Mar returned to her position once McCoy had been beamed into the room she was in. _"The Gorn have not cracked our encryption yet, but it's only a matter of time. If you can get near that terminal, you should be able to overload it and destroy the data."_

Kirk glanced on his tricorder. They had six minutes on the clock before they got to the data. 360 seconds. Kirk was sure he could do it in half that time. Kirk activated a force field in the hall.

His breath caught. A whirring noise edged his ears. Just below his knee, a green laser light shone against the door post. If he tripped it, the turret would go off. Down the hall, a fire crackled.

Slowly, it moved back the other way. Kirk held up fingers counting down. Three...two...one...

Kirk leaned out, stunning the turret with his hand phaser. They would only have seconds before it recovered.

"Now!" The two ran out and down the hall, slamming their backs against the wall and crouched down behind some carts and boxes. Both their chests rose and fell in unison. Kirk heard the station creak and rumble. The low sirens rung on without stop in the distance.

"Okay...here's the plan..." Kirk said, catching his breath. "There's a terminal in that room. We need to shoot it out. As soon as that Gorn" he explained, pointing to a slender figure on his tricorder screen, "leaves, we go in, shoot it, and get out."

"We'll need a quick escape." He used his tricorder to scan the room ahead. "There is an access way to a vent in the ceiling. I shall open it."

"We need to work fast. Wait for it..." Kirk watched the screen.

The Gorn disappeared, and the turret down the hall was facing away. "Go! Go!"

The two raced in. Kirk raised his phaser and squeezed the trigger, exploding the cylindrical piece of Gorn tech. _One down, two to go._

Fire streaked over Kirk's back. He grimaced and held in a cry.

The drone fired a yellow beam, missing Spock by inches.

"Quickly, Captain!" Kirk boosted Spock up. Spock yanked Kirk up as fast as he could, as more yellow beams shot past him.

"Who's there?" An infected officer up the hall cried out in agony, aware he was about to attack again. Aware he couldn't stop himself.

Kirk and Spock went through the short vent and opened the ceiling hatch. Behind them, they heard the Gorn beam back in, cawing with surprise when it saw the device destroyed.

T'Mar's voice snapped Kirk back into focus. _"They have just cracked the first layer, you do not have much time."_

Kirk did a quick study of the room. Neurocortical stimulator, four beds, several boxes, various medical stuff. Though they had requisitions deliveries only days before, the station was very disorganized. Either that or they had tried to evacuate supplies. Was Daniels even looking after this place? Still, he was glad they were here. They made convenient hiding places.

"The door ahead is guarded. We'll have to go this way." Kirk pointed over his shoulder. Spock nodded and dropped down for the ceiling vent. The door ahead was guarded by two infected crew with phaser rifles, and a turret. Kirk didn't want a fire fight.

Along the outside of the room, Kirk moved toward an orange glow on the walls. _The fire._ It was still burning. Using his tricorder, he activated the fire suppressors. White mist put out the flames, darkening the hall. Spock motioned for him to hurry, which Kirk responded with a hand put up. They moved quickly from pillar to back-to-back couch to pillar. Beyond another fire, Kirk saw a moving crewman. He aimed and stunned the man, causing him to stiffen and fall.

"Captain, the vent. This is the other direction you chose not to take. It is an alternate route around the turret." They both cast their glances up to the ceiling. Spock opened the vent. Kirk peered around the boxes they were behind. He aimed and downed another yellow shirted crewman stalking around.

 _"_ _Another encryption layer has been cracked, there are only two left."_ T'Mar's agitation grew. The Captain thrust his first officer up. Spock pulled him through the hole in her ceiling.

Up in the vent shaft Kirk laid out the plan. "You wait here, Spock. I'll be gone for a moment. Destroying these things is simple."

"Captain, I must insist on going with you."

 _Here we go again._ "I'll be fine, Spock. I need a quick get-away once I'm back."

"It is dangerous to go alone." Kirk glared at Spock, hoping it would deter his first officer's probing.

It didn't. "Captain, if you are worried about me, or if you feel guilty about what happened on New Vulcan..."

 _Enough._ "Spock, we need to stop them." He paused. "Come on!" The two dropped out of the vent and ran out of the room.

Behind the boxes, to the couch, to the wall outside the room. The Gorn looked from side to side, and then beamed out. Kirk leaned his phaser rifle in the room and fired, blowing it up. "Only one left. Let's get out of here!" They ran off, back to the vents. Kirks knees ached from crawling so much. His elbows didn't feel much better. The air was warm from the fires that raged on.

 _"_ _Only one encryption layer remaining."_ T'Mar sounded on edge now.

"The vent to the lab. It is the fasted way to the third and final terminal." Spock said, leaping up to grab the ceiling vent hole's edges.

Inching along as fast as they could, the last vent took them back to that bio lab where they were before. Kirk glanced at his timer – one minute, twenty seconds left. He picked up the pace, thumping along he metal tunnel. When he was almost at the end, T'Mar alerted him again.

 _"_ _They have almost cracked the final encryption layer."_ The female Vulcan watched as the barrier between the Gorn's hacking tool and her plans got smaller.

Kirk's heart pounded into double time. Sweat streaked down Spock's face. Both hurried to climb out of the vent and jump down to the floor. Kirk landed awkwardly on his feet and stumbled forward, throwing his weight toward the door. Slamming his torso against the side, his ribs ached. He aimed his phaser out the door.

Forty seconds. The timer now flashed red. Kirk ran out, throwing caution to the wind. If those plans went to the Gorn, all was lost. He aimed his phaser.

 _"_ _We are running out of time. The Helios plans are almost in their grasp."_ T'Mar could feel her stomach knot up. Her hands clutched the chair arms hard.

Blue energy burst out of his phaser. One guard went down. He fired again. The other one dropped. He kicked their phaser rifles aside and ran toward the signal. Spock followed, weapon hot and pointing forward.

Thirty seconds. Kirk's legs pumped harder.

A wiry Gorn fighter reacted to the noise. It was behind a laboratory containment tank. _Twelve o'clock._ Spock and Kirk moved left. Spock took down the Gorn, while Kirk ran for the device.

Twenty seconds. The slender, curvy blue Gorn beamed in. To its left, the device blinked.

Eighteen seconds. Seventeen. Sixteen...Kirk brought the rifle up to his chin. Squeezed the trigger. The device exploded, knocking the Gorn back. It made a guttural cawing noise as it twisted around to regard its attacker.

"Last terminal down."Kirk's brows came together. Racing forward and stopping hard, he fired into the Gorn's chest, killing it instantly. Wheeling around, he shot a third Gorn coming in behind Spock. The Vulcan finished it off with a punishing volley.

T'Mar sighed with relief. _"The security of that data was crucial, my thanks to both of you."_

 _"_ _Great. Did you get my research samples?"_ McCoy leaned toward the female Vulcan's comm.

 _What samples?_ "You didn't mention anything about samples!"

That meant no. _"Jim, this is no time to argue. Without those samples, we could all become infected – cold, mindless, incapable of human emotion. Kinda like Spock."_

The Vulcan calmly responded. "From my experience doctor, human emotion is _highly_ overrated."

Kirk clutched his comm. "Alright, we'll get your samples. Spock, let's go!" He shut off the communicating device.

Spock and Kirk made their way over to a small closet in the corner of the room. "Captain, why are we going here?"

"Change of plans. We need to clear the deck of hostiles." Before Spock could respond, Kirk opened the vent above them and waited for Spock to climb up.

 _Very well._ They went down the vent and dropped into a small room. One side's doors were locked; the others were jammed.

 _Damn!_ Kirk rubbed his sides, now thoroughly sore from crawling. He quickly used his tricorder to activate fire suppressors, putting out the fire beside them. An empty computer station briefly distracted Spock. With a wave from the health station and a recharge to their weapons, the two went back up and down the tunnel. Emerging on the other side, the two left the room.

"Captain. A turret." Spock tilted his head to indicate the threat around the left corner. Kirk shook his head and ran past, avoiding flying yellow projectiles. Spock put up his shielding and ran by as well. After a few seconds, the turret let out a tone and stopped firing.

In step with one another, the two came up to a corner and peered around. A Gorn lurked down the hall. Spock raised his weapon and fired. The Gorn dropped. Kirk ran, jumped over two misplaced couches and came up beside a wall. Near him, one of the unconscious officers lay still. A Gorn fighter lurked beside the turret around the corner. With two quick shots, it dropped. Kirk ran away before the turret could hit him.

Scouring the halls with their eyes, the two continued to move. Kirk cleared one room, checking the corners. Spock utilized every bit of his senses to watch. Listen.

He heard something humming. A drone. Kirk and Spock moved quickly into the next room over. Kirk moved inside, aimed and fired. Two quick shots exploded the drone into pieces.

 _Well, that was easier than I thought._ "That's all of them. Let's go." They ran to the end of the hall and stopped at the door frame. Kirk shot around the corner at the turret blocking their way. Jumping in behind more supplies, he felt fire searing across his chest. Shots hit him.

"Argh!" He slid down, breathing heavily. _No mortal wounds. Good._ Spock unleashed a volley at the turret. Kirk regained his strength and fired. The turret exploded.

Kirk got up, obviously in pain. It wasn't going to slow him down. If anything would stop him, it'd be death. And only that. His crew depended on him.

"Clock's ticking, commander." Spock followed Kirk out, looking back once more at the halls. He thought of all those who weren't going to escape. It was becoming increasingly likely he would be one of them.


	8. Chapter 8

_Chapter 6_

 _Stardate 2259.32_

 _Frontier Starbase – Main Biology Laboratories_

Kirk looked over the small object on the floor. It was circular, with a green light on its top.

"This looks interesting..."

"You would be best served hacking that mine to disable it." Spock stopped as a bulky blue Gorn came into the room. Kirk quietly lifted his tricorder and started in on hacking the mine.

 _This is taking too long._ The Gorn would leave. Moving his finger, he routed the power into itself. Kirk could feel a zap as it short circuited. The bomb exploded, throwing the Gorn into the air. Its body hit the door, and then slid to the floor with a thud. Yellow blood covered the floor.

Entering the lab, Kirk crouch ran and stopped beside one of the four computer terminals. He waved Spock along to scout ahead. Spock poured over a semi-circular console at the end of the way. After a moment a finding nothing, Kirk crept over to Spock.

"Find anything yet?"

"I have not."

"They've got to be here somewhere." Kirk looked over the rail.

Spock frowned, speculatively observing his readings. "It is likely they will not be in one place."

"Oh, of course not. Why make anything easy?" Kirk looked over and saw another mine a distance away on a landing. He hacked into it. The light went from pale grey to green. Kirk smiled and repeated the process with another mine attached to a structure, up some stairs on and around a corner at his 10 o'clock.

"Another Gorn approaches. We must find a way to subdue it before proceeding." Spock pointed out a Gorn coming up the stairs on the other side of the lab. Near the same structure.

"Don't worry, I've got this." Kirk pinged an echo off the structure near the bomb.

 _"_ _Oar oar!"_ A guttural noise. The Gorn commenced walking toward the sound. The green light turned to pale white.

 _Tick, tick, BOOM!_ Glass shattered. The Gorn let out a screech, careening back into the console and sprawling backwards over it. Much to Kirk's surprise, none of the other Gorn seemed to notice. Or even care.

 _How heartless are these things?_

McCoy once again pressed the Captain with urgency. _"Any luck finding my samples?"_

"Working on it." Kirk groaned. His doctor would have to have patience. Up the stairs and around to the right, Kirk eyed a console below. It was being used by the Gorn. The samples had to be there. _If I take the analysis, they might notice._ He had to be subtle. Working as fast as he could, he got in and out of the system quickly, downloading the information to his tricorder.

"Found the first sample."

Spock came up behind him. "We must find the remaining sample and continue with our mission." His voice was laced with urgency.

 _Thanks for killing the moment of triumph._ "Okay Spock, let's find it." He smiled wryly at his first. A dead red shirt lay on the floor in front of them. Kirk frowned, thinking of him. _Poor guy..._

"Captain, I've found it." Spock pointed out small square yellow console, being searched by the Gorn. After a moment, an arching beam took it away to another section of the lab. Kirk hacked the second sample and downloaded the contents.

"McCoy, we got you samples, anything else?"

Bones watched the readings come in and smiled slightly. _"I think I have all I need for now."_ He packed up a suitcase full of supplies and made his way out with T'Mar.

"Good, make your way to the shuttle bay and help get some of these people to safety."

 _Now you're talking."Already on my way."_ He would be glad to get out of this death trap. As soon as possible. T'Mar pulled toward the pickup.

 _"_ _Spock, the base has become fully compromised. I believe there is nothing further we can do, except to call for a complete evacuation. You should proceed to the shuttle bay with the survivors."_

"Acknowledged." The Vulcan commander put away his comm. Kirk jumped up onto the highest point on the bio lab structure. He scanned the floor below.

"What do you see, Captain?" Spock whispered.

"Two slender Gorn, two muscular Gorn, two drones, a turret and an infected crew member." Basically, _a lot_ of Gorn. He climbed down and moved past Spock toward a ladder leading down behind the massive sample tank.

"Do you have a plan for getting out of here?" Spock figured he did, though he wasn't sure how safe it was.

"We need to get to that turret's console and hack it."

"Indeed. It is unlikely we would be able to overcome their numbers with only our weapons."

"I've got to get to that infected guy first."

"Once you reconfigure the turrets parameters, it will recognize _all_ Gorn as targets."

 _Including the crewman._ "He wouldn't stand a chance. I'll sneak around over there and come around."

"You must make sure you get him while inside a room. Outside, you risk getting caught."

"Will do." The two dropped down the ladder, wrung to wrung, and plunked to the floor. Spock hacked the mine in front of them. When the drone idling around the corner past, Kirk snuck by past the Gorn and the turrets lasers. He crouch ran down past the many tall sample tanks and around the back.

A force field. His tricorder activated it in seconds.

"Follow me! Find out where it takes me!" The yellow shirted officer walked out of the door, and then back in. There was no thought guiding his actions. His youthful face was had streaks of yellow-orange liquid on it. He looked cold and emotionless. And yet almost terrified. At least the youthful ensign inside him was.

Moving with the turret's detection lasers, he followed the man in and choked him out. Now he had to get back. He ducked behind a table as a slender blue Gorn passed the window. Was it female? It had a certain..."shape" to it. Hopefully the tinted grey window blocked it from seeing in.

The doors slid open. Kirk knew he was trapped. Crouching rigidly against the table, he watched a drone go by the door, stop, and then turn and go back. His chest felt tight with anxiety. After all this was done, he needed a good rest. Kirk made his way out and back to Spock. Stopping just across the open space from Spock, he peered in. Gorn moved around casually about, making guttural noises and croaks. Kirk began hacking the console. As he got closer to finishing, Spock moved in, his weapon raised in the air.

Kirk held up fingers. 3...2...1...

Metal clanking. The turret's lasers went from yellow to red. Two bulky blue Gorn roared at the turret, realizing their tactical equipment had become their worst enemy. The yellow beams shot out at them.

 _"_ _Fire!"_ Both Kirk and Spock fired into the smoke bomb set by the Gorn enforcers. The two blues went down in quick succession. A slender female Gorn beamed in a drone, pointing the weapon it clutched at the Vulcan man. Kneeling simultaneously, Kirk and Spock delivered fatal red streaks of energy as both the drone and the Gorn were shot down by the turret.

Another drone flew closer, firing at them. Spock was preoccupied by a noise in his ear.

A ticking. _The mine!_

"Captain, out of the way!" Spock and Kirk threw themselves away from the mine. The deafening explosion blew the drone to pieces.

Kirk shook his head, regaining his composure. Spock tried to shake the loud ringing in his ear.

 _Bang! Bang!_ Shots from the bigger Gorn's guns rang out. More Gorn were coming. "Run for the door!" The two flew past the turret and up the stairs, past a console Kirk had hacked and behind the station. Behind them shots flew out of the turret at the Gorn with deadly accuracy. Screeches and banging noises filled the air.

"Hack that keypad!" Kirk barked. He and Spock's hearts pounded. Kirk felt his muscles burning from all the running he had done. Tension made his stomach swirl. The door opened with two beeps. Kirk and Spock flew into the room. Kirk quickly retrieved a stun grenade and replenished his phaser rifle. Spock let the red Starfleet health scanner go over his torso. Exiting the room, both held their phaser rifles high.

It was quiet. Kirk scanned the room. The floor was littered with Gorn bodies. Down the stairs, around the front of the console and down more stairs. All silent. The air was thick with smoke. Random creaks and groans from the station's hull resonated in the distance. Kirk focused, his fear making his mind race even faster than his heart beat.

To his left, a glowing console with a readout on display. The turret was closed up and inactive. If they couldn't sense something, it could. He hoped.

To his right, green plants filled tanks that were stacked to the ceiling. He looked at the plants. Everything you could think of was in there, from Yolendran spittle pods to the fast-growing Walgettian Fire Blossoms to the deadly Flowering Phistella Sporophytes. He scanned each one before hand, so he could learn more later. Every now and then, he did read.

Up some stairs. A random screen displayed reading for a plant-like organism. Another console smoked just a few feet away. _All clear._

Spock moved laterally and opened the door leading out of the lab. A dead officer was draped over solid rectangular table. His legs dangled over the side. Kirk noticed a mine about fifteen feet away. He fired his phaser and destroyed it. Both shuffle stepped to the left around another corner.

"Get into cover!" Kirk shouted. A bulky blue, shielded Gorn stomped in on them. He threw a smoke grenade to the ground, obstructing the two from seeing a Gorn female who was also present.

 _Bang! Bang!_ The blue Gorn's standard weapon fired out energy like buckshot out of rifle. The low humming of a drone made Kirk wince. _Where are these things coming from?_

The captain squinted. A figure. Kirk jerked up and fired, sending the blue Gorn flying back with an ascending screech.

 _BOOM!_ The doors at the hall's end blew open. Spock could hear yelling.

"I don't want this!"A sick commander yelled.

"What did I do?"Asked another disturbed officer, to no one in particular.

Three yellow-shirted officers ran forward; the metal rods were raised in the air. Pulling out a stun grenade, Kirk waited for them to get close enough. He knew it wasn't their fault. He hated to have to knock them out, but knew the alternative was infinitely worse.

 _Bang!_ A blue flash. The three yellows held their heads, groaning. "NOOO!" Kirk swung his fist up into the second man's jaw, sending him into unconsciousness. Spock knocked out another, driving a swift compact punch into the underside of the other man's head. Kirk finished the third minimizing the pain.

A yellow beam whizzed by Kirk's head. As he sought refuge behind a force field, his eyes widened. Spock hid just to the side behind a box. After firing a few shots back, Kirk saw the Gorn beamed away.

 _What?_ His head wheeled about. Spock scanned with his tricorder. With a fluid movement, one hand slipped his tricorder and whipped out his phaser, shooting and destroying the drone. Kirk tore into another room.

A box in the far corner, past a biobed. Kirk retrieved a stun grenade. Now to find that Gorn fema-

 _FSSHTEW!_ A yellow beam came through the wall and nearly hit Kirk in the side. He jumped out of the way, slamming into a biobed. "It can shoot through _walls_ , Spock!"

"I know!" Spock jerked to the right away from a burst of fire, eyes closed. Two seconds later, he opened one and searched for any remaining Gorn. _There._ A tall female Gorn appeared behind his position. Kirk flew out of the room, pumping phaser fire into her torso. She screeched and crumpled to the floor in a heap. A second female was just on the verge of activating a drone, but she was no match for the barrage they levelled at her.

"This way," Spock called, indicating the nearest turbolift with the butt of his rifle. It was barely visible beyond the quarantine checkpoint, which was filled with haze. They moved toward the decontamination ring, but it did not move forward or issue the standard instructions.

"Spock, I think the scanner's broken."

"Your keen sense of the obvious never fails to impress me."

 _Was Spock being sarcastic?_ Kirk had no time to wonder. Three more Gorn appeared; a female via transporter and two heavily armoured males through the doorway. All that stood between them was a small couch in a recessed area near the wall.

One of the armoured beasts circled the left side, stopping to sniff the floor. As he did, Kirk activated a localized force field generator for protection. A Gorn mine had been laid nearby. _Watch this..._ He scanned the explosive and accessed its programming.

"We could utilize the mines to our advantage." Spock whispered, looking over Kirk's shoulder.

"Exactly what I was thinking." Kirk transmitted a decoy frequency with his tricorder. The sound pinged off the floor near the mine, catching the interest of one of the hostiles. He grunted and approached the explosive device; as he came within range, the light atop the mine changed from a bright green to a pale white glow.

 _Bang!_ The Gorn flew up into the air, landing with a loud _thud_ on the floor. His companion didn't seem to care. _Your turn._ Kirk lured another Gorn towards a similarly hacked mine behind the console. _Bang!_ It screeched and flew back. Blood splattered behind it.

A slender Gorn beamed in beside the two bodies. Both aimed and fired. A drone beamed in. Spock focused his hand phaser fire and delivered a kill shot to the drone. The Gorn dropped beside it, succumbing to Kirk's onslaught. Kirk moved behind a pillar. A turret remained as their only obstacle, rotating back and forth. Kirk pointed his phaser rifle around the metal beam and squeezed the trigger.

Yellow beams shot bits off the pillar. Kirk squinted his eyes and moved away. Spock fired on the turret, drawing its fire away.

Kirk fired. Spock fired. The turret exploded.

Kirk gasped in the thick, hot air of the room. His chest heaved as he attempted to get up. "Thanks, Spock."

"The door is locked, sir. I shall access its controls and release the lock." He sidestepped past a long fire on the floor and behind the security terminal. His mind raced as he switched the controls to manual override. Kirk retrieved two more stun grenades from below the computer screens, handing one to Spock. The doors chimed as the lights on the turned green. Kirk shot the last mine near the door.

He vaulted over the console and out the door.

Out in the turbolift area, Kirk and Spock ran for the only one working in the far left corner. Once inside the safety of the lift, both men closed their eyes, breathing.

"You're a good shot." Kirk laughed half heartedly.

"And you have very good reflexes." Spock answered. He could use a drink of water. His mouth was feeling dry. Noticing Kirk's misunderstanding of his compliment, he explained. "I meant that your quick thinking under pressure has been exemplary."

Kirk nodded, unable to answer. He was already growing exhausted. It looked like it was time to reach down for that second wind, that extra jolt of energy. But after all he'd seen and done, he didn't know how much more he could take.

 **...**

 _Stardate 2259.32_

 _USS Enterprise – Engineering Section_

 _New Vulcan Orbit_

 _"_ _Chief Engineer's log, supplemental. This one's directed at the Chief of Requisitions at Starfleet, sitting with his feet up on his desk back in San Francisco in his lovely office overlooking the Golden Gate bridge, having spent a leisurely afternoon denying – yet again – my requests for resupply of vital components. It's not like this is the flagship of the entire fleet. What's that? It is?! Well, bravo me, then. I've got quite the prestigious post, haven't I? If only it meant mindless bureaucrats listen to me on occasion!"_

Montgomery "Scotty" Scott clicked the log recorder off and shoved his chair back from his console. It was hard enough to be the chief engineer; managing each and every little detail of every system was a chore at the worst, a challenge at best. It became nearly impossible when he couldn't even be given the proper replacement parts. If he and the other engineers had to jury-rig anything else, he would go crazy. They were the best help he could ask for, but even they were human. _Or at least humanoid._

The damage from the Gorn attack wasn't too severe. Conduits were removed and replaced, broken computers were being rewired – he'd had to pull a mile of melted circuitry out of the wall near the cell blocks alone – and various sections of crew quarters had to be temporarily cordoned off due to fire damage. Scotty squeezed the arm of his chair and closed his eyes. _Could be worse_. _At least there are no intruders to worry about._

The walls lined with pipes, conduits and wires. And when those minor problems were averted, another minor crisis was plopped in front of him.

He reached for his coffee mug on his desk and took a sip. _Cold._ Maybe if he concentrated, he could pretend it was a cappuccino. _Maybe._

He imagined the object of his wrath again. A portly man relaxing against the velvet cushions that lined his throne, snapping his fingers at various petitioners to come forward and present their humble requests, only to pull the trapdoor cord on the needy, while bestowing upon his cronies and toadies the finest components money could buy. _Oh, sure, commodores get new uniforms while there's a gaping hole in the bloody cargo bay wall and nobody gives a care!_

Sure, it wasn't like that really; the requisitions officer was a tall, slender man without a throne or trap door. But the way things were, it might as well be.

He sighed and looked down at his console. Readings Kirk had sent him had come in a minute ago. Scotty thought of his Captain, Doctor and First officer stuck on that base with the commodore. Those were two things he hated: stuffy commodores running fiefdoms, and Starbases. To his left, he noticed Keenser, his short Roylan friend waiting patiently at the door. He came up to just above Scotty's waist.

"Well, what are you looking at?"

"Needed." The Roylan typically used one word to convey what he wanted, if that.

"Alright, I'll be along. What is it this time?"

"Warp core. Routine check." He held a PADD in his hand, glancing down at the screen and then up at his superior with big black eyes.

 _Sigh._ Another problem to worry about. "I'm coming. Tell Okubu and Wells to meet me there." Keenser walked out. Scotty shook his head, smiling. His little friend was the most brilliant, dedicated officers. He was also at times, the most annoying one, too. _If only I could have five minutes without something going wrong today._

The massive hemispherical containment unit that was the warp core had to be monitored carefully. If not the entire ship could go up in an instant. Whether it be power coupling or keeping track of the warp field generators, he was always on his toes.

 **...**

 _Stardate 2259.32_

 _USS Enterprise – Chekov's Quarters_

 _"_ _Personal log, Ensign Pavel Chekov. I should have sent a message home at the last Starbase rendezvous. No doubt mother and father are worried about me. It was bad enough that their only child ran off to Starfleet at a young age. But what would I tell them? 'Privet Mama and Papa! All is well here at the far edge of space! There is a crisis on the New Vulcan colony and we've encountered dangerous unknown species that might kill us all, but don't worry. I'll be fine!' Maybe it's better that I don't call home more often."_

Chekov had only stepped out for a moment to get something to eat and rush back to the bridge, but the silence of his quarters called to him. Unlike the constant stream of updates coming in from various sections of the ship, once those doors closed, he was blessedly alone in the quiet. He needed to record his thoughts before he exploded.

There were security teams patrolling every corridor, along with contingents of engineering crewmen repairing various fixtures. He'd had to dodge a stream from a leaky water pipe and two sparking wires on his way here. _An accident vaiting to happen._ The protein bar he'd grabbed from a basket in the mess hall sat on the bed where he'd thrown it, all but forgotten.

Chekov tried to forget, even for a moment, that the events of the day thus far had even happened. He laid his head down on his desk and tried to recall the last time he'd been at ease. _No...not in the holodeck. I mean really..._ He pushed the computer-generated images of Hyrus IX's vast purple ocean away and reached for something more tangible. He and his friend Yuri flying kites in the park, two brightly colored arrows darting through the deep blue sky. _Good times..._ he chuckled to himself. _I just vish the Wulcans could remember like I do vithout pain._

He sobered as he considered the massive relief effort taking place below on New Vulcan. Teams of officers were beaming down to the surface on a cleanup and recovery mission. The USS _Intrepid_ and USS _Massachusetts_ were on their way but were still at least six hours out. Still, reports from the surface were positive; the Vulcans were well hidden in their city, and many had only been injured, not killed. But with only 10 000 remaining, any amount of dead was devastating. And for the many infected with a supposed Gorn "virus," there was no cure as of yet. Chekov had heard from a friend in sickbay that the symptoms were awful.

He had his own problems. People still called him "the kid", and stared as he went by. At seventeen, he wasn't seen as a graduated cadet turned ensign. Even with all the work he'd done just to get here, a lot of them still believed he belonged in high school, or at the academy "earning his stripes." He didn't blame them. But he knew there was only one thing to do: prove them all that he _was_ capable. Admiral Pike and Captain Kirk trusted him. He now had to earn that.

Chekov shook his head, his eyes downcast. His problems were nothing right now. All that mattered was New Vulcan. The Russian ensign pushed back from his desk and swiped the protein bar off his bed and sprinted out of the room. He was needed on the bridge, and that was where he was going to be. To do whatever he could to help those people down there, and to help his crew.

 **...**

 _Stardate 2259.32_

 _Frontier Starbase – Shuttle Bay_

Kirk was surprised to see Daniels' aid run up before him when he exited the turbo lift.

He was the same man who had "escorted him" to the commodore. _He left you behind, too?_ In the dimly lit access corridor leading to shuttle bay, the man appeared out of breath. His eyes lit up when he spotted them.

"Captain, you made it." Three red shirts ran in behind Abaran, one with him while the other two flanked the doorway, guns ready.

"Well, where the hell is Daniels?"

"He should be nearing the shuttle bay. The team and I were about to go in and clear out hostiles." He thumbed over to the security officers.

Spock turned to Kirk. "We should proceed before the Gorn make escape impossible for the entire crew."

A loud blast blew the doors off. The two guards on either side were killed instantly by the flying shrapnel. Three Gorn were just outside, one large and two smaller ones. Kirk dropped to a knee and put up a shield with his rifle, deflecting several blasts from the smaller Gorn weapons.

 _Large one first._ The husky, blue, armoured Gorn growled. Its head was roughly brick shaped, with glaring reptilian eyes. It threw down a smoke grenade, but Kirk could still see its outline against the wall outside the room. He fired at bulk. Spock let loose on the two smaller, lizard-like attackers. When the smoke cleared, the Gorn were downed.

Abaran and his crew ran by. He waved them forward, toward the closest shuttle. "Everybody on that shuttle. Let's move, move, move!" He turned to his rescuers, followed them out. "Commander, Captain. Thank you for your help."

Kirk gripped his hand phaser. "We'll cover you, just get your people on that shuttle."

The doors behind the shuttle slid open. To Kirk's surprise, Daniels came barrelling out, followed by a smaller Gorn taking pot shots at him. Daniels saw Kirk and yelled.

"HELP! Don't let them touch me!" Daniels stumbled, putting a hand on the floor before running.

 _Now you want my help._ Kirk shoved the uncharitable thought out of his mind. As he and Spock ducked behind a box, Daniels broke left, hurtling toward the shuttle. The Commodore tore up the steps into the craft. He grabbed the shoulders of a security officer in front of him and threw him to the ground violently. "Get the hell out of my way!" The man grunted as he hit the floor hard.

Spock's eyes shifted between the commotion and the Gorn target. "Captain, Commodore Daniels appears to be abandoning his post." _And his crewman utterly selfish action._ His repeater fired two shots at the Gorn, dead on target.

 _Yet another one of Daniels' "endearing" qualities._ "I knew I hated that guy." Kirk shot twice, killing the attacker.

The red shirt got up, watching the doors of the shuttle craft shut. He waved his arms. "Hey! Wait! You can't leave without me!"

Daniels gave him a last look before piloting the shuttle around, up and out the top doors.

 **...**

 _Stardate 2259.32_

 _Frontier Starbase Shuttle_

Disbelief. Everyone in the shuttle stared wild-eyed at the Commodore, still unable to believe what the man had just done.

Abaran knew Daniels was a bit hostile sometimes, but this was beyond words. He squinted his eyes, remembering the way his commanding officer had grabbed Lt. Hirschovitz and shoved him to the ground. Sure, the ramp was only about a couple of feet high, but still...he had the feeling that Daniels would have done whatever it took to get himself on the shuttle.

 _How do you tell your boss he's way out of line?_ Judging by the way Daniels sat stiffly in the pilot's seat, eyes firmly fixed on the controls, he was still tightly wound up. Abaran leaned over towards Nurse Lannon, a petite blonde woman. "You okay?"

She nodded, her forehead beaded with sweat. "I've never seen him like this. Not even on a bad day." Lannon twisted her hands in her lap. "It's these creatures. I don't blame him for being scared."

"I do." Abaran clenched his jaw. "Everything he expects of us...duty, obedience, respect. He shows none of us any. We're his play things, he manipulates us. I'm tired of it."

"Tired of what?"

Abaran stiffened. The voice of his Commodore broke the silence. "We can't just leave them back there."

"Who? Everyone's evacuating, or haven't you heard?" Daniels adjusted the shuttle's course. "Did you _see_ those things? They're killing everyone! If that damned boy Kirk hadn't lead them here, we wo-"

"Damned Kirk? He saved my life, saved _our_ lives." He moved his hand back to show off the others behind him. "He's been doing everything he can to clean up _your_ mess."

Daniels froze. His eyes went back out the front window. "What do you mean... _my mess?_ "

"Don't act innocent. You're the one who activated the device early." He saw Daniels flinch, and then turn around.

"That's right." Abaran felt new confidence. He stuck his chest out more, feeling his muscles tighten. "I know all about it: the delays, your control over it. You didn't care about the Vulcans at all. You wanted to make a weapon for Starfleet."

The other faces in the shuttle had looks of shook and horror. "Sir? Is that true?" Mike Gomes leaned forward, mouth open. His eyes seemed lost.

" _You_ were the one who helped me, remember?" Daniels barked back.

Tears stung Abaran's eyes. _All those Vulcans, those officers, the base..._

 _No!_ Daniels was to blame." _You_ manipulated me!" Abaran shouted. "That disaster back there is _your_ fault!"

Dave Buchanan put a hand on his black hair, resting an arm on his stomach. He felt bad enough by what he'd seen before. This revelation only made it worse.

Daniels clenched his fists. "We're out now. We can't go back to that base. Look at it!" The station was surrounded by arching yellow lasers and several Gorn fighter ships. A larger ship seemed to be the origin point of the lasers, which seemed to be like fingers grasping the base. "It's a wreck!"

"That wreck was your command."

The commodore shut his eyes. "Well what do you want me to do? Go back, kill us all? If we go now, we can get a message out, get help before they take over more than the base!"

"The _Enterprise_ is near." Abaran said, swallowing.

Daniels shook his head and turned away. What had he done? He only wanted to give Starfleet a leg up. Eventually, some hostile race would be powerful enough to match the Federation's firepower. The Helios device would help the Vulcans, _and_ provide Starfleet with infinite corridors for travel. It was revolutionary! It would change Starfleet for the better. And for once, he would get some credit. He wouldn't be forgotten by Starfleet, even after they had banished him as far from Earth as they could. Finally someone would notice him.

"Alright, we'll try them."

Abaran leaned closer. "How could you do this? They all trusted you! You betrayed them, you caused this whole problem. "

"Well, how could I see this coming? How?"

"You couldn't. But it doesn't matter now. What does matter is that you are going to turn around and head back. Once this crisis is over, _then_ you can see if you can salvage what's left of your career."

"I'm your commanding officer! You can't order me around!" Daniels huffed.

"You think those things care about rank? They'll kill anyone they please who's left there, including Hirschovitz." Abaran replied.

"I'm sorry, but we can't. We...we need to get help. I don't want to go back there." Fear showed in the Commodore's eyes. "Those damnable creatures will shoot us out of the stars!"

"You have to go back! Your crew is depending on you!" Abaran quieted, looking back at his crewmates. He sat beside his Commodore. "Sir, you've done wrong. We all know, you know. But you can fix this. Go back, save your crew. This is your choice, you _can_ go back. Be a hero to them." Abaran held his gaze.

Daniels thought. He had been a fool. Thousands of people were back there. He nodded stiffly, sniffing. "Okay. I'll do it. We're going back. But remember, we could die!"

"We all know. We knew the risk when we signed up."

"And we still chose it." A voice chimed in from the shuttle's rear.

Daniels typed in the controls, and veered the shuttle hard to the side. Abaran was right. The crew needed their Commodore, now more than ever. He was going to help them, whatever it took.

Just behind the shuttle, a single Gorn winged ship broke off formation and tailed after the shuttle.

 **...**

 _Stardate 2259.32_

 _Frontier Starbase – Shuttle Bay_

As he finished off the two Gorn rushing towards him, Kirk could not contain his disbelief. He didn't think Daniels was capable of that. A lot of things, but not abandoning his station, his crew even.

"Hey! Over here!" A single red shirted officer waved his arms high in the air. Spock looked up. The man activated a freestanding console, causing a long, metallic bridge to extend towards their side of the divide. Between their sides, it was a straight drop about sixty feet to the massive bay doors below.

Kirk's jaw dropped. Spock's eyes widened. About twenty feet behind the man, a massive Gorn ducked under a doorway and stepped into the bay. It was dark grey and about ten feet tall, with a large musculature. Horns protruded backward from the top of its head. The officer let out a yelp and ran for the nearest shuttle. The giant Gorn roared at a much smaller brown Gorn on all fours to attack, pointing to the shuttle. It ran and jumped between the closing doors at the shuttle lifted off.

 _"_ _Stay back! AHHH!"_ The man inside yelped as claws met him. There was a loud crash, abruptly powering down the main thrusters. The shuttle rotated back around and crashed back to the floor, bursting into flames. The giant stepped backwards through the doorway and beamed away.

Kirk watched the space where the giant had been. "What the hell was that thing?"

"' _Who'_ is the more appropriate question." Based on its size, strength and the way it ordered the other one, the massive Gorn most likely had a high ranking.

Two small Gorn on all fours ran toward the two. They were quickly dispatched, with relative ease. Kirk walked forward, phaser rifle up.

Two more jumped into view near the doorway ahead and raced at Kirk. Kirk took out the first, but missed the second. It leapt through the air toppling him to the bridge like a wild dog.

"AHH!" The Gorn growled and shrilled, wrestling with him. Kirk's hand-to-hand combat training hadn't prepared him for nails and snapping jaws. The ugly lizard growled and thrashed, barring its ugly jagged teeth at him. He could feel the claws digging into his arms. Kirk rammed his rifle up against the creature's slender chest, trying to push it off. The creature lurched back, growling. It's hot, smelly breath brushed against the Captain's face. Poking its head down, it made repeated attempts to go for Kirk's face or neck.

Kirk jammed the side of the rifle into the Gorn's mouth with all his strength. Shoving it up, blocking its every effort to deliver a fatal bite. Moving his legs under the Gorn's body, he thrusted upward once more. The creature flew onto its back. Kirk hastily got to his feet. Spock aimed his phaser rifle and fired, killing the creature as in leaned back to pounce.

Another ran at the two. It veered right, evading fire as it ran toward Spock. He struck it directly with a rifle blast, but it just shook it off. Reaching up a claw, it swiped at him. The Vulcan stepped back, teetering close to the edge. Too close, as far as Kirk was concerned.

Kirk could see another Gorn rushing at him, but helping Spock was top priority. Bringing the rifle to his jaw, he fired at the Gorn attacking his first officer over and over. The Gorn went flying off the bridge, dropping out of sight. Spock shot Kirk a look of gratitude, and then shot down the last Gorn.

Kirk eyed the burning shuttle."We can't get past this. Is there another way?"

Spock watched his tricorder. "There's a tunnel. This way."

"One sec, you pop the hatch." Kirk ran to where the giant had last been seen. On the floor in the now empty room, a single PADD lay beside a storage container. Kirk knew the PADD readout was for a survival pack requisition.

He scanned it and left at Spock's beckoning. "Captain, we must hurry!"

Sliding down the ladder first, Kirk found himself on a small grated walkway. He could see out over the large, dark bay doors. There were some boxes at the end. It was dead silent. Still, Kirk had a bad feeling about this. _A gut feeling._ He put up a finger over his lips as Spock slid down after him.

Spock made a "what?" face. Kirk held up a finger. He reached down to his belt and pulled out a grenade, lobbing it behind the boxes. A noise came from the corner.

 _Curious._ Spock stepped forward. The grenade exploded sending another small Gorn flying out from behind the box with a screech. It's dead, mauled carcass hit the grates with a thud. Kirk and Spock ran forward, stepping over the body. Both climbed up the ladder on the other side and unlocked the hatch.

Right into a firefight. Shots came from both officers and creatures. The smell of burnt things filled the air. A yellow-shirted commander and a red-shirted officer took up tactical positions behind supply crates, exchanging fire with at least four larger, wiry Gorn. Kirk flew into cover beside one of them.

"How're you holding up?"

"The officer breathed heavily. "We've got to get to the shuttle and get those people off!"

"We've got you covered. Get to the shuttle." Kirk jumped out, firing at the Gorn attacker running at him. Spock put down another, who was poking its head out from behind the crates and roaring. The shots hit it square in the head and neck. A third reached over some boxes, firing in every direction. Kirk came up behind it, firing down at the creature. Spock scissor stepped around and pressed his back against more boxes. Moving out from behind the hiding spot, he joined a commander in shooting down the final Gorn invader.

Running past the Vulcan, the two officers joined up with several others.

"Go, go, go! Keep your head down!" The officer in command hurried along several men and women into the shuttle. He looked back to Kirk once more before running inside. Kirk and Spock quickly snapped back to attention when two more Gorn, identical to the previous four, shot at them from the other side of the divide between shuttles. Kirk used his rifle's secondary functioning shield to deflect shots as he ducked below a solid metallic railing.

Kirk and Spock readied. Almost simultaneously they popped up. Red beams shot out from their rifles, hitting the Gorn across the way. A shot pinged off the rail above Kirk's head. He snapped his head down into his chest. Spock fired his hand phaser; blue bolts hitting their mark. Kirk shot multiple times. The Gorn answered with a volley of yellow beams.

 _FTEW! FTEW! FTEW!_ One Gorn dropped.

 _TUT-TUT-TUT!_ The other repositioned itself and fired back.

Red beams took down the last creature. Kirk looked closely to make sure before it was dead. They were running out of time; the shuttles had to get out.

He turned back and shouted over the rumbles from outside. "That's the last of them! Get out of here! Go!"

Outside, the large Gorn vessel fired two winding projectiles at the bay. A loud rumble violently shook the station. The bay doors jammed as they were opening, warping under the attack.

 _"_ _Jim, did you see that? We're trapped, how are we going to evacuate the crew?"_ McCoy's voice echoed in a shuttle he was in.

They had to fire back. The Gorn's onslaught was escalating. Kirk whipped out his communicator."T'Mar, weapons status."

 _"_ _Main weapons systems are now offline. Situation is critical."_ Kirk scanned the room and looked around. The bridge across the gap for the bay doors was on fire, covered in debris. Spock analysed the readings he had, eye-balling the ceiling.

A shuttle was suspended from the roof with metal locks. Spock noticed they were heating up, and were compromised. The wires were shorting. His gaze flipped downward. If it fell, it would land on the bridge in from of the Captain.

"Captain, look out!" He reached out an arm pulling Kirk back from the edge. Two explosions jostled the craft loose. It fell, hitting the bridge hard. After a second, it slid off and fell backward to the doors below with a loud bang. The bridge gave out from the weight and the heat, falling as well. A large gap now separated Kirk from the other side.

"Owe you one." The corners of Kirk's mouth turned up. His face turned serious again, looking out at the other shuttles. He held his comm close to his mouth. "We need to give those shuttles a fighting chance. Got anything we can use?"

T'Mar looked over the schematics with a concerned look. _"This station was not designed to withstand this type of attack."_

Spock recalled his knowledge of standard Starbase designs. Because weapons were down, they needed a high energy blast. Logically, because this was a deep space station, it stood to reason their communications relay required a significant amount of energy to operate over distances.

"T'Mar, is it possible to arm the subspace relay tower and convert the energy into some form of weapon?"

 _An interesting suggestion."I suppose it may be possible, but you would need to reroute the station's power structure. But it would only afford you one highly charged shot."_

Spock considered the enemy ships outside. "One shot may be all we need."

 _The larger vessel. Hit it, and the other's scatter._ They would have no leader. "You're a genius, Spock. Let's go!" Kirk felt new energy. His first officer's idea might just work. He quickly checked a room behind him for enemies. Coming up to the jump across the gap, he took in a breath, clipping his rifle to his back.

It was a wide jump. Kirk was sure he could make it, though. He ran and soared across the space, grabbing onto the edge of the bridge on the other side. He shoved down with his hands, throwing a leg over the side to pull himself up. Spock mirrored his actions, making the jump with relative ease.

 _How does he do that?_ Kirk looked with disbelief, after he had struggled just to jump that far. They left the bay and ran down a winding hall.

Kirk held his rifle waving it around every corner. Left, right, left, right. Flames and debris littered this hall as well.

A tail. Claws.

Kirk wheeled and fired repeatedly, keeping the small Gorn rusher at bay. This kind of Gorn liked to jump people. Kirk would rather not get attacked again. He fired again. It collapsed on its side, catching the edge of the fire to Kirk and Spock's right.

"You need to be more careful. The Gorn utilize stealth to surprise their opponents." Spock sent a sideways glance to Kirk.

"I know." He gripped his rifle tighter. He clapped Spock's back with his hand. Feeling an ache in his shoulder, he retracted it quickly.

"Are you sure you're alright? I understand you have sustained some injuries."

"I'm fine, Spock. If we don't act soon, we're going to have more to worry about than that."

"Indeed. The power station is close." Spock stopped over the red, square hatch in the floor. "

"After you, Spock. Let's go." The hatch ahead lead down to just outside the power station. There wasn't any way to know how many Gorn awaited them down there. Kirk swallowed, closed his eyes and exhaled. The heat and smoke from the many fires burning made the cramped halls feel like a sweat box.

 **...**

 _Stardate 2259.32_

 _Frontier Starbase – Main Power Station_

"We are outside the power station." Spock said to T'Mar, quietly talking into his handheld comm. Just down the grated walkway, an officer wearing science and medical division's blue shirt lay on the floor. A pool of blood surrounded his phaser rifle.

Kirk grimaced and looked away. "What now?"

 _"_ _The power station's most sensitive areas are locked down. My schematics show that you can gain full entry in the security room."_ The female Vulcan said, looking back over her shoulder. Her room was dark and quiet since McCoy had left. Every now and then, a creaking noise would unnerve her.

Kirk shoved the nose of his rifle out and reordered the clip. He had only one and it was low. His hand phaser would have to do. "See what you can do about that keypad."

Spock paced over and began hacking the computerized lock on the doors. The panel flashed yellow. The doors in front of them had a diagonal split running down to the right where the two met. Three small lights, one like a triangle and the top two like parallelogram were red. Just like the others.

The lock chimed and turned green, as did the door lights. It slid open silently.

Kirk and Spock both saw inside the room. A single red, slender Gorn. Looking much like the slender blue ones, Kirk thought. They crouched below the tinted glass railing.

 _Two against one._ "We've got the advantage, Spock." As if the Gorn heard him, it placed her weapon down and reached for something. This Gorn was different than the rest; it had a wide, short tail like a flipper, and it was red and slender. And structured differently, like the tall blue ones. Another female, Kirk bet.

Spock looked down at his tricorder readings. This Gorn, yet again, had very different biological markers than the others did. _How many different variations are there?_

The Gorn clutched a black orb with a yellow glowing periphery. It threw the object over the station it was at to the red carpeted floor below. Suddenly, a wiry Gorn, like before, beamed in with a yellow arch of light. And then another. And another. Each called out as it landed.

 _Two against four now._ Kirk frowned. The three separated while the lone red one continued to ponder over her console. One wiry one went searching among the green utility boxes on the floor. Kirk noticed a dark stain splattered over a large area. He didn't want to know what it was. The other two Gorn went up the stairs and around the main console. Their claws clanked against the grating.

"It appears they do not know we are here, Captain. This should give us a tactical advantage."

Kirk kept crouched with his rifle supported on a bended knee. "Couldn't agree more, let's keep quiet." If they went right, the walkway they were on dropped off. They _could_ use the many cylindrical and rectangular transformer boxes to hide, but he'd rather not be hanging off anything to get down there. Too risky.

Left it was. He swiftly moved while crouched out of sight. Slide to the box, around it, to the corner, around to the left. A box shielded him from a Gorn walking by at the foot of the steps in front on him.

Two large yellow pipes were on the far wall. Many smaller black ones ran along it and up as well. Below him under the walkway, water silently moved a clear section of pipe. He eyed the locked door he and Spock needed to get to. It was on a higher walkway up some steps and around to the right of them. They would have to pass right by the Gorn. Confrontation was inevitable.

If he was going to attack one, they'd all hear it. _The female._ She was the only one who could beam in back up. He raised his phaser rifle, aiming at the red reptile leaning over the illuminated screen below. Spock prepared himself for action.

Several shots. The Gorn female recoiled a few times and dropped grate behind the console. Kirk flung his rifle to the left, aiming at another beyond a transformer box. Shots came near him. He retaliated, and that Gorn dropped. _Two down._

Spock was exchanging fire with a third Gorn on the steps leading up to the locked door. Kirk noticed two objects float into the room. _Drones!_

"Spock, we've got company!" Kirk said as the Vulcan turned and fired on the two drones, destroying one. A laser from the other streaked by, grazing Spock's leg. He faltered, grabbing a rail for support. Glass shattered around Kirk as the two remaining Gorn unleashed a volley of yellow beams. In a one-two motion, he shot the Gorn down the steps below him and then destroyed the drone.

Spock fired, dispatching the Gorn a on the stairs near the door. Kirk sprayed the area in front of them with crimson beams. The last Gorn dropped, silencing the room. Slowly, the two officers came around, rifles raised. Kirk's was almost out. When nothing more attacked, Kirk ran left twice and stopped short of the main console. The Starbase power unit brought up the displays of the most advanced fuel cells that powered the whole station.

Spock considered the dead Gorn female on the floor, looking between her and the door above them. "Captain, it is unfortunate you killed this female."

Kirk held back a joke he thought of. "It was a tactical move, Spock. I didn't want more of these things coming in."

"I meant that I could have melded with this one to find the code to that door."

"Can't you find anything on here?" He motioned to the console, scouring it for a code.

"No, Captain. I do not believe the Gorn would keep their access codes on there."

 _I wish I had thought of that "mindmeld" thing before._ "We'll try anyway. Try and hack that keypad." He ran up the stairs of the left, dodging a Gorn body and turned right twice, heading around the ledge to the door. Spock got out his tricorder.

 _This lock seems highly sophisticated._ After a moment of trying, Spock backed out and dropped his hands to his side. "I'm sorry, Captain. The code has proved difficult, and will take too long to solve. We must endeavour to find another way in."

"T'Mar, we've got a problem, the door is locked, and we need another way in. Can you find us another route?"

The Vulcan woman brushed a lock of short hair off of her face. She tapped on the screen and manipulated the schematic to see the room they were in from all angles. _There. An access tunnel."Captain, there is a maintenance tunnel below the computer stations. It should be in the back of the room. Do you see it?"_

Kirk and Spock slid down a ladder to the floor. The captain looked around, not seeing any tunnel.

 _"_ _You are close to it, in fact."_ T'Mar's prompt made Kirk look closely. There were a pair of white doors, open a crack.

"Found it. Spock, help me get this open." The two pried the doors apart. Kirk ran down the short tunnel and turned right at the end.

"Ugh." Kirk gasped, and then quickly closed his eyes. His free hand not holding the rifle came up to meet his face

 _"_ _What is it?"_ T'Mar asked. Spock came quickly around the corner, his worried look subsiding to one of distaste. A crewman lay on the floor, his head and shoulders propped up against some boxes. He laid in his own blood, with a massive laceration on his side.

"A deceased crewman." Spock answered.

Kirk clipped his rifle on his back and climbed a ladder up to its top, opening a hatch once up there. Climbing out, he found himself in a dark room just outside the power station. Light shone in from the security room. It appeared this was a storage closet. Spock came up after crouching under a tinted window. Two wiry Gorn were inside. Moving swiftly, Kirk and Spock flanked the open doorway.

The security room had a console on each wall, and one in the middle. The Gorn moved from one console to another, looking at it before slamming a meaty hand onto it over and over. It was evident they didn't know how to operate the console.

A dead science officer was still in his chair, but his head was limp over the back of the chair. Blood was on the floor. Reaching down to his belt, Kirk clutched a grenade, one of the Gorn's creations. It was only fitting. He lobbed it in between the two creatures.

They both reacted, but couldn't escape the blast. Both were killed instantly, thrown off to the right. Kirk strode in first, recharging his weapon at a port. "We're inside."

 _"_ _You need to disable the security at the console"_ T'Mar responded. Spock moved a Gorn weapon off the console, leaving streaks of yellow blood behind in its wake. After a few seconds, he and Spock had hacked the console's controls.

 _"_ _Good work. You will now be able to get into the inner control room. I have marked it on your tricorders."_

Kirk and Spock left the room, moving into the power station. A set of steps led down to a flat utility platform above a secure room. Another set of stairs led around the room and down to the floor below.

Going down the top stairs ahead would be walking right into trouble; two Gorn patrolled between the electrical boxes. Kirk flipped over the rail and dropped down behind a third green utility box opposite the platform, while Spock came over as well, ducking into the shadows under the stairs, behind a fourth. Kirk flipped into stealth mode. Holding his rifle steady, he peered out from behind a green transformer unit. A Gorn fighter looked out over the room below. Kirk directed the weapon at its head. A single red beam to the head took it out.

After waiting a moment, he moved forward and around past the stairs leading to the bottom floor. Spock crouched beside him, keeping a look out for trouble. A second Gorn looked out over the side of the platform.

A headshot. The lizard crumpled. Two down, and two to go.

They quickly moved down the stairs to the floor. On the other side of the small room, a third Gorn walked between utility boxes, cylindrical standing power conduit containers and pipes.

T'Mar whispered quietly. _"Why are the Gorn showing such intense interest in the base's auxiliary power system? This is highly concerning."_

Kirk got close and fired. The creature fell dead with a groan.

The last was behind them, in the inner control room. Kirk and Spock ran toward a tall box, pressing up against it with their backs. Kirk looked at his tricorder. The lizard thing was working at the console. They moved again, this time stopping up against the porch-like structure outside. They dipped their heads down. Kirk's heart beat felt loud enough to echo in his head.

Above them, the Gorn looked out over the room. Seeing nothing, it walked slowly back to it station, waving its long tail behind it. Kirk and Spock moved back-to-back, rifles raised. They went up onto the porch and into the room. Kirk moved in behind the creature.

 _FTEW! FTEW!_ A groan. The Gorn dropped onto the console and slid off.

"We have arrived in the control room." Spock reported to T'Mar.

T'Mar leaned closer to her computer screen. _"What do you see, please report."_

"All three of the cores are offline." The screen sounded off a quiet warning alarm, displaying "PANELS OFFLINE "above three exed out core icons.

 _"_ _It is just as I feared, the Gorn are trying to disable the station by starving it of power. We must reverse their actions."_

 _Crap._ Kirk frowned. _No power means no shields, no life support, no...us._ They had to act fast. "What do you need us to do?"

 _"_ _If the Gorn wanted to disrupt the power, it is logical that they would tamper with the circuit panels."_

The Captain frowned. They were going nowhere."T'Mar! How do we find the circuit panels?"

She reiterated. _"Use your tricorders. Can you see where the main power lines lead?"_

"Follow the power lines to the circuit panels, got it!" Kirk snapped off his comm and began running at a fast clip, following the tricorder-illuminated power lines as they snaked around the room under the floor. The closest led to the locked door. Spock hacked it and went inside following Kirk.

"Found one. Something's not right here, looks like those lizard things did something to it." Kirk observed the device attached to the wall. Wire conduits jutted out of it into the circuitry.

 _"_ _Can you repair it?"_ T'Mar asked.

"Captain, allow me. I am more familiar with the Gorn encryption."

"All right, Spock. I'll find the next one." The captain ran out of the room, quickly following the next wire on his tricorder screen. Down a maintenance hallway, he saw a second device attached to a wall. His tricorder couldn't quite link up to it. As he tried to get closer, he noticed a solid glass railing denying him entry.

"Spock, I've got a problem. I can't get close enough to the next device. There's a railing blocking my way."

"A railing?" The Vulcan paused in his work.

"Well, yeah." Kirk looked around stepping back to give him a description of his surroundings. "There is a computer panel here, and another one nearby."

"A lift? Can you not activate it?"

"No, the panel's dead." Kirk gripped the rail, glancing at the blank screen.

"Perhaps there is a connection problem. Can you find the wires?"

"Yup." Kirk quickly traced the wire under the floor into a small room on his right. Among the wall panels and consoles, he saw what he suspected was wrong – a power cell socket. It was empty. "I need a power cell. Do you know where I can find one?"

Spock stopped his hack for a moment. "T'Mar can you provide assistance?"

 _"_ _There's a room about twenty feet from you, Captain. The door is locked, but I believe you may find a power cell inside."_

Kirk ran over and opened the door. The main screen on the wall was displaying static. A single science officer lay back in his chair, dead. The smell of blood filled the air; the chair and floor around him were covered in it.

 _"_ _Did you find it?"_ The Vulcan woman inquired.

Kirk's face fell. "Yeah, I did." He knelt down and picked up the cylindrical object. It glowed blue in the middle, with a solid bar running through its center. Kirk carried it across back to the socket and plugged it into the hole with a twist. The socket chimed twice and glowed green. _Good to go._

Running back to the panel outside, he quickly tapped the now live screen. A whirring noise. The floor beneath him began to rise. _Going up..._ He jumped off, landing in a crouched position. "Spock, how're you doing?"

"Almost got it, Captain." He narrowed his brow, sending the flow of power around damaged circuits and Gorn pathways.

"Let me help you. I'll be right there." He took off, running in beside Spock. When he got there, Spock was just finishing up. A mechanical noise from inside the wall signified power was flowing back to the first core.

"One core is back online. Only two more to go." Exiting the room, Kirk heard a noise above him. His breath caught. Frantically he waved Spock into cover behind one of the many different utility boxes. Up on the platform, looking out on the floor below, a red female Gorn stalked around. Slowly they made their way around boxes, watching as the creature came down the stairs and across the bottom floor. Kirk aimed and fired, sending crimson beams into the female's body. She recoiled and threw down a black orb before two more blasts shot her down.

The black beacon sat still, emanating a tiny noise. Kirk put his rifle end down and fired full blast, destroying the orb.

"Well, that takes care of that. Spock, you get the maintenance tunnel. I'll get the last device."

"A sound plan, taking the devices two at a time." Spock speedily set off for the tunnel. Kirk scanned the floor. The final device was also in a maintenance tunnel – at the end of a grated catwalk up the side of a far wall. He looked around for a way up there. Finally, his eyes rested on a utility box against a closer wall. He moved to and climbed onto it, giving himself a way up to a solid walkway. Ignoring the ladder in front of him, he grabbed onto the side and flung himself up to it.

As he jogged along the two meter wide grate, the wall to his right rumbled. Kirk stopped and shot a look to the side.

 _BOOM!_ The wall exploded, sending debris flying. Kirk's world went sideways, and then black.


	9. Chapter 9

_Chapter 7_

 _Stardate 2259.32_

 _Frontier Starbase – Main Power Station_

Spock froze. He whipped out his comm. "Captain! Are you alright?" His breath became shallow.

Kirk's face was pressed against the grate. His body ached.

Everything ached. Was he bleeding? His side burned.

Kirk pushed himself up gingerly. "I'm good, Spock." The walkway was destroyed. A massive yellow water pipe had been broken, sending water gushing out onto the floor.

Spock finished rerouting the second device. He closed up his tricorder and ran out to find Kirk.

T'Mar watched the second core come online. _"Just one core remaining. Please hurry, we are running out of time!"_ T'Mar estimated the station had possibly less than fifteen minutes before the station would begin to break up.

 _The pipes._ He grabbed onto the exposed piping in the wall, carefully shifting to the other side. With a final leap, he landed on the last part of undamaged grate. Had he fell, the drop was at least twenty five feet. Running into the tunnel, he found the third and final device.

"Huh, another one. I recognize their handiwork."

 _"_ _Can you repair it?"_ Kirk didn't answer T'Mar's question. With the information Spock had sent, rerouting the power wasn't anything difficult. He could do it in his sleep. The machinery made a sound as the power connected up with the proper lines and headed back towards the cores.

T'Mar came over the comms sounding relieved. _"All three cores are online. We can now reroute power to the relay tower and weaponize it."_

"Come on Spock, let's go reroute that power." Kirk went back along the pipes, walkway and down the ladder, hopping down to the floor to meet Spock in front of the control room. Behind a box, Spock silently indicated that two more female Gorn patrolled. One was right behind the box, coming around. Kirk rose and fired point blank. The Gorn shrilled and threw down a beacon. The other up on the platform followed suit, running for cover. In seconds, it became eight versus two.

Kirk could feel adrenaline surging inside him. He didn't sign up to be a soldier, but in this case he had to be. The air was musty and warm. In quick succession, Spock and Kirk took down three Gorn. Up on the platform, coming around the side, shooting at them from the platform down. Another reptile tore into a room, hiding behind a table. Kirk quickly ran to the door while Spock covered him with fire, denying other a chance to shoot the Captain from above.

Kirk threw a grenade in the room, locking the door after. An explosion. A screech. He got back into position with Spock. Two more came running down the stairs.

A memory flashed in Kirk's mind. Another hatch. They needed to reload, but only had second before two of the lizards would be railing on them.

"In here!" He tugged on Spock's arm, leading him into a room. Quickly, they opened the hatch and dropped into a space below. An officer lay on his stomach with a gun by his side. Kirk ignored the image and ran for the other ladder.

Up in a storage room, Kirk reloaded his weapon. The sounds of shooting had ceased, leaving only the rushing sound of spilling water in the air. Slowly and cautiously, the four remaining Gorn stalked around.

His body felt heavy. Exhausted. He couldn't stop now. The Station.

Hundreds of people were counting on him. Behind him, Spock seemed like he was alright, but his face showed his exhaustion. This was already more combat than all the practice they'd had back on Earth combined.

Kirk counted down from three in his mind. Came out under the water fall. Squeezing the trigger over and over, he showered the Gorn with beams. Spock targeted a red Gorn, eliminating her in seconds. The final creature flew back and hit the ground.

Only then did Kirk take in the feeling of the ice cold water used for cooling the station's inner workings pour over him. He shuddered from shock as the water froze his back. Lighting up his wounds. Rinsing the sweat and blood off of him. He tiled his head up and opened his mouth, desperate to quench his thirst.

 _Sweet relief._ The cold water dumped down his dry, parched throat. He took in every moment. After a moment, he leaned forward coughing and choking on the excess blocking his airways. Spock stepped under the water with him, allowing the cool liquid to spill over him. He closed his eyes and sighed at the feeling of it on his face.

Racing back into the room, Kirk and Spock were soaked to the skin. Their feet squeaked on the floors.

 _"_ _Captain, the Gorn ships continue to assault the base. If we do not arm the relay tower soon, there will be no Starbase left to defend."_ T'Mar said, urging them to hurry. Kirk and Spock worked hastily over the control room instruments, their minds in sync. Bit by bit they sent outgoing power flow diverting away from other nonessential systems to the relay comms tower.

The vertical screen flashed green. OVERRIDE SUCCESSFUL. The three cylindrical, rotating cores lit up. The machinery hummed as it came to life. Blue energy surged between the two ends. Three bolts of lightning-like energy streaked and zapped between the spinning metal rings.

 _"_ _Full power has now been restored to the relay tower"_ The Vulcan seemed quite pleased.

 _Knew we could do it._ A wry smile formed on Kirk's face. "Did you _ever_ have any doubt?" He didn't know why she would have any.

T'Mar had to admit she did but not much. _"The odds were against you. However, I suspect that has not slowed you down in the past."_ She was pleased by his and Spock's work. And amused at Kirk's overconfidence.

 _She knows me well._ Kirk grinned again. "I'll take that as a compliment." It was better than nothing, for the time being.

"T'Mar, we will immediately proceed to the relay tower." Spock left the control room.

A nod of affirmation. _"I will guide you through the weaponization process once you arrive."_

A sound. Kirk and Spock heard footsteps. Two more Gorn, both red, had arrived. They would definitely know something was up once they saw all the reptilian bodies on the floor. Kirk's feet splashed in the water that was on the floor.

 _We must hurry._ Spock's jaw clenched. "We must find an alternate route. A direct fire fight will waste precious minutes away."

"There _is_ no other way, Spock! On my mark, we go."

"Yes, sir." Spock reluctantly complied. Shots rang out. The Gorn threw down markers, beaming in six more. Gorn ran down the stairs.

"They're flanking!" Kirk turned on his heel and fired.

More Gorn opened fire from the left. "They're coming around!" His shot Spock a wide-eyed and opened-mouthed expression as a shot missed his leg, and another shot missed his side.

Spock tucked and rolled out of the way of a barrage, popping to his knees and firing at his attacker. Kirk raced past and shot down a Gorn on the stairs, and then slipping his gun up to hit another at the stairs top.

Spock raced into the storage room and cleared the room, taking out three Gorn, including a female. He waved the rifle around once more before charging it and following after the Captain up the stairs.

Kirk stared down the end of his rifle. A giant metal fan had fallen and crushed some debris beneath it. A water pipe was intact. The two broke into a run, arms and legs pumping hard.

Past the security room up some stairs and into a massive storage depot. They quickly slowed and crouched. Two Gorn were conversing up ahead in growls and grunts. Kirk silenced them with two quick bursts of energy. Spock pointed up to a red patrolling a walkway nearby.

 _Please no more._ Kirk's arms felt very stiff and sore. Willing himself on, he held weapon and fired. The female recoiled and shrilled, releasing another black orb. A final shot hit the crouching red Gorn, killing her.

 _No, no, no._ The tired captain tried to find the beacon, but exhaled with anger as the three beamed in. _Come on, push yourself._ He and Spock switched places and discharged their last rifle clips. One of the Gorn ran past a large piece of debris and accidently into one of the many fires in the room. It screeched as flames licked up the side of its body. Kirk ran up around the debris and shot down the last two.

"We're good, let's go!" He slid his rifle into the slot on his back. Every muscle in his body ached, and he had just about had it up to _here_ with the smell of burning metal and flesh.

"Captain, you should take a moment to compose yourself." Spock's face was streaked with soot, giving him a rather odd look.

Kirk chuckled. "You been crying, Spock?" When the Vulcan appeared confused, the captain pointed to his face. "Your mascara's running. The ashes, I mean. That's what it looks like. You, uh, should probably wash it off." he finished.

Spock raised an eyebrow. "It is soot, Captain. And no, I have _not_ been crying." Something flickered in his eyes.

"Hey, seriously, are you all right?" Kirk's look softened. "Listen, I'm sorry about New Vulcan. No one deserves what you guys have been through."

Spock massaged his forehead. "I appreciate your concern, but I am fully able to focus on the task at hand without becoming lost in memories. We must arm the tower." He paced toward the jammed doors. There would be time for grief later. _Much later._ It wasn't that he _didn't_ feel.

He simply didn't _want_ to.

Kirk raced over and helped his first officer open the doors. He noticed Spock putting more than enough force into the task. He let out a sigh and heaved his own door aside.

 _He's right. No time to think, just do._ He hoped it was the right call.

 **...**

 _Stardate 2259.32_

 _USS Enterprise– Bridge_

 _"_ _We thank the Enterprise for responding promptly and effectively. However, the situation on New Vulcan is now well in hand."_

Sulu nodded, his gaze fixed on the middle-aged Vulcan official whose face filled the viewscreen. "I understand, Minister Sojek. We'll be heading back to the Starbase soon to when Captain Kirk contacts us with news. Our captain and first officer both remained behind to request reinforcements." Sulu paused. "The Gorn have kidnapped both Surok and the Helios device. We need to get them back."

 _"_ _I was not aware of that."_ Sojek thought for a moment, furrowing his brow. _"A recovery mission will not be easy. These creatures are ruthless and cunning; I narrowly avoided injury on several occasions myself."_

Sulu smiled. "Maybe so, Minister, but the smart money's on _our_ side."

The Vulcan nodded. _"I imagine so. Given your captain's reputation for resourcefulness, one might almost suspect that he, too, possessed Vulcan heritage."_

 _I'm sure he'd be_ thrilled _to hear you say that,_ Sulu thought. "We still have a few hours here yet. As soon as we pick up our people, we'll swing by again with more supplies and relief personnel."

 _"_ _They will be most welcome, I assure you."_ Sojek closed his eyes briefly before making the Vulcan hand signal. _"Live long and prosper."_

Sulu returned the sign. "Likewise." The communication ended. Sulu took two quick steps over to his seat at the helm and slid into it. He rested his head in his hands.

"You look like you could use a nap," Chekov remarked, studying a coordinate display.

"Does it show that much?" Sulu yawned. "Some first contact _this_ is turning out to be." He looked over his shoulder to Uhura. "Anything from the Starbase?"

She shook her head. "Not a peep. But planetside's a whole different story. I'm picking up several transmissions. Some are official – search and rescue teams coordinating their efforts, public information broadcasts, that sort of thing. But others..." Uhura rubbed her eyes. "I heard a small child, probably only five or six. She said something like, 'Grandmother T'Tela, are you well? I cannot reach mother or father. Do you know their current location?'" She shook her head, a pained expression in her eyes. "I've been trying to find out whether she got a response or not."

Sulu turned the _Enterprise_ around in the direction of the Starbase. "I'm sure somebody will hear her, Lieutenant," he replied sympathetically. "Other ships are en route, and rescue teams are going building to building."

Uhura nodded. "I hope so." She turned back to her station slowly.

 _You and me both._ Sulu pressed some buttons and changed the _Enterprise_ 's course. The view ahead changed from stars to shimmering blue and white light of one of the two binary stars. No matter what the Captain decided to do from here, he would trust his decision.

Chekov eyed the rip on the scanners. It was still contracting, and would be gone in less than seven hours. It would be _possible_ to get through it, but it wouldn't be the most comfortable ride they'd had. Between the energy fluxes and the unpredictability of the thing, the risk was very high.

But they had to get the T'Mar's father back.

And the device. With it, the Gorn could attack again. Anytime, anywhere. It wasn't something Chekov even wanted to consider.

Sulu got up and walked to the back of the bridge, stopping beside Uhura. "Lieutenant, patch me through to the ground teams."

"I've already got them." She switched the communication to speaker.

"Ground teams, Sulu here. How goes the inspection?"

A dark haired security officer called back. _"Alpha team leader here, sir. We've been working to clear the eastern quarter."_ She sighed, glancing over her shoulder at lines of injured and lost. " _It was the least affected area. Beta, Gamma and Delta teams are still moving from house to house, building to building. The good news is, the general area immediately surrounding the Helios lab was specifically targeted, so the city's periphery is mostly unscathed."_

Sulu nodded, licking his dry lips. "Good to here. And the injured?"

 _"_ _We've got mini triage units set up. Several injured, but remarkably low casualty numbers. According to the elders down here, they had specially made sure they had a plan for disaster. That seems to have done the trick, minimizing the number of deceased. We're still looking, but we've only counted around 67 dead."_

 _Only_ 77 dead. Sulu cringed slightly. "Alright, we'll check in later. Sulu out."

Uhura shook her head in dismay. "Already that many." Her voice was hollow with sadness.

"Hey, they said they were prepared." Sulu offered a calm expression, but no smile. "Maybe there won't be too many more." He _really_ hoped there wouldn't be. Those people had suffered too much before all of this.

"Yeah, hopefully." Her eyes shifted up to see New Vulcan out the view screen.

 **...**

 _Stardate 2259.32_

 _Frontier Starbase – On route to outer hull_

"We're gonna need to go outside. Spock, get suited up."

Kirk stepped up into an equipment room. The walls were lined with equipment containers, phaser rifles and environmental suits, like the ones they had on the _Enterprise_. Grabbing a dull yellow command suit off the hook, he quickly slipped it over his uniform. It had two bulky clips on the shoulders with straps of many cords, crossing over the torso and running down the arms. Where they met in the middle, a Starfleet insignia was displayed on a black square. At the back, they met at a special utility clip for anything from phaser rifles to equipment. Spock climbed into his suit as well, an identical one in blue, matching his uniform.

"We might get into some areas where there's no pressure or containment. The station's taking a beating." Kirk said, putting a boot on. His black globular helmet sat beside him on the bench. Its tempered glass face shield had a speaker and an internal air vent.

"In that case, it would be wise to put our helmets on before we leave this room." Spock said, easing his onto his head and twisting it into place.

Kirk stood up, stretching his neck to the side. He felt uncomfortable, since the suit was slightly on the small side. He shifted a little, looking down at himself before moving toward the door. "You ready, Spock?"

The Vulcan nodded."Indeed. Let us proceed."

"T'Mar, how are we doing for time?" Kirk said, breaking into a jog.

The Vulcan woman studied the station's structural integrity. It was holding a lot better than she thought it would, but was still failing. More and more, the station's survivors were crowding the few remaining safe places, but the shuttles were still trapped. _"The power restructuring has had a minimal effect. Until the relay tower is charged, we cannot fend off the attackers. At most, we have ten minutes to get the tower ready."_

 _Plenty of time._ Kirk worked well under pressure. Almost thrived on it. He slowed to a walk as Spock ventured on ahead, curious of something on the far wall.

An open door had a tangle of pipes, debris and fire retardant blocking the way on either side. Fire burned in its midst. Kirk frowned. "No way we're getting through _that_ mess."

Spock lifted his communicator to his mouth. "T'Mar, we have come to an impasse. Please advise."

 _"_ _Spock, my records show that the ETT is available in your area."_

"We will need to use our tricorders to find the ETT."

 _The what?_ Kirk knew he was missing something here. "What the hell is an ETT?"

"It is an Engineering Transport Tool. It allows the transporting of matter over short distances. It may allow us to proceed."

 _"_ _The ETT may allow you to circumvent some of the damage in your path."_ T'Mar added. Kirk looked around the room. Three shelves went up each wall, holding red and white boxes. A forklift had been left off to the side, holding a crate high in the air. Several containers had been jostled off the walls and were no covering the floors on each side of the room.

 _Aha._ To the right of the debris-covered door, four computer backs, looking sort of like ancient arcade games lined the wall. Two guns were attached to the side. Kirk and Spock ran to them, putting their phaser rifles down and unhooking the ETTS.

"Got it." Kirk observed the pale greenish-yellow gun in his hands.

"Activating the ETT" Spock said. "You will need to flip the switch to activate the weapon's secondary fire. Once you have done that, you aim at me and pull the trigger. This will "tag" me for transport."

"Understood." He held the gun up to his first officer, feeling uneasy about the action. Pulling the trigger, three white beams shot out, scanning over Spock's midsection. A red spiral moved back and forth along the beams. After a few seconds, the gun registered as having Spock locked onto. Kirk smirked. "Tag, you're it."

A raised eyebrow. "I'm what, sir?"

 _Never mind._ Turning to inspect the doorway, Kirk peered through the small gap between the doors and the debris.

Spock looked in as well. "We may be able to teleport each other through."

"Oh, sounds like fun. Just make sure I materialize on the other side." Kirk made his best 'please don't kill me' face.

The expression sparked no change in the Vulcan's outward demeanour. "I shall resist the obvious temptation, Captain." His voice, on the other hand, suggested that the captain had said something incredibly ridiculous.

Kirk aimed his ETT to the transporter pad beyond the door and pulled the trigger. Spock disappeared and reappeared at the same time from beside him to just beyond the doors. Using a red laser to aim, Spock aimed and fired at the same pad. Kirk felt his body tingling as light consumed him. A second later, he was again beside Spock.

 _I like these 'ETTs'._ Kirk clutched the device and ran for the next door. The room had two smaller internal rooms, both computer stations and storage spaces. The fires on either side of the Kirk made him feel all the warmer in his already overheated suit. Two more giant Gorn spikes were jammed through the walls. One had caused debris, a giant vent and several pipes to spill out in front of them in flames. Smoke sucked out of a crack between the spike and the ceiling.

"The Gorn have made their presence known here as well." Spock raised an eyebrow.

Kirk surveyed the wreckage. _Damaged stuff equals Gorn._ "Looks like it."

The only door leading out was shut. Kirk's shoulders dropped. "Lotta locked doors around here."

"Seems logical considering the enemy's situation."

"Yep." Kirk nodded. The door was lacking power. Using his tricorder, he followed the power cord from the lock to the socket. Nothing in it. "We need another power cell."

Spock looked around the shelves and scanned crates. Kirk looked into the other room. Lying on the floor among debris, the glowing blue object stood out in the dark room. "There's the cell. Spock, hold still. I'm gonna beam you in there."

Spock assumed a stance. Kirk aimed and beamed the Vulcan inside. Spock knelt and grabbed the cell. In a swirl of light, he appeared on a pad outside the room. A moment later, Spock plugged the cell into its socket and twisted it. The door lights turned green. Kirk ran through. The next door was locked.

"Help me get this open." He and Spock ripped the two doors apart, stepping into massive T-shaped walkway with a dead turbo lift. They ran around it, spotting the next pad up on a wall. Artificial gravity was now gone. Boxes floated by.

 _That's not good._ The transporter area was electrified. If they beamed up there, they'd be fried in seconds.

"We can deactivate that electrical box at the terminal." Spock pointed to a small circuit box on the wall. Kirk quickly shut it down and beamed Spock up to the pad, following quickly in a beam of light. And again, onto a slanted walkway. Moving into a turbo lift, they shoved a red and black box out of the lift and headed up to the next deck.

Exhaustion silenced both officers. Neither mind was focused on the task.

 _Gotta keep going. T'Mar needs us. Everyone needs us._ Kirk ran out of the lift. Semi-circular doors opened to a vertical shaft. They raced up the ladder leading outside.

Kirk's muscles tensed. Spock's mouth opened wide.

 _What the..._ Neither could fathom what they saw.

 **...**

Gorn ships. Everywhere.

Several winged ships circled the metal hulk that was Frontier Starbase, making a laugh-like noise as they passed. Several emitted bright yellow lasers, like tethers into the hull.

The relay tower was just that; towering. At its peak, a large sphere. That was where they needed to be. Spock and Kirk took in a deep breath and started toward and up the wall of the tower.

"T'Mar, have you been able to contact the _Enterprise_?" They needed support. Immediately.

 _"_ _I have sent a distress call, but this station appears to be incapable of receiving a response."_

 _We won't even know if they heard._ Kirk stared out into the sky. "Where the hell are they?" Running up the side of the hull, Kirk watched as more ships sat idle in space, tethering dug deep into the station's hull. Debris floated through the air. Solar panels jutted out the sides of the tower's upper hull.

"We need to use the panels as beaming points. From there, we have a better vantage point." Spock pointed.

"Get out of here!" An infected officer yelled from behind the panel. He fired down at Kirk, sending him running for cover. Setting his phaser to stun, Kirk readied to fire.

"Please, don't leave me here!" The man screamed, almost crying. Kirk shared a pitied look Spock.

Kirk fired a stun shot, knocking the officer back, floating a distance away. Grabbing the ETT off his back, before beaming Spock over to the panel. Kirk arrived a second later, beside the upside down unconscious man. Inside his environmental suit helmet, tears streaked the man's ashen face. Kirk put a hand on the man's shoulder before leaving.

Another beam. Another. Three drones came up around the side of the tower. Squatting behind upturned metal plating off the damaged hull. In moments, the three were neutralized. Kirk aimed his ETT and beamed Spock to the solar panel. Spock pointed his ETT down, placing Kirk beside him.

Kirk aimed directly overhead. Spock appeared 30 feet above him in a swirl of light. Spock beamed the Captain over.

A tricorder reading came up. Spock looked up. "Three drones." He and Kirk scissor stepped around opposite sides of a pillar, around a short walkway. They jumped out, firing on the drones. Yellow streaks seared Kirk's arm and side. Kirk ignored the burning pain and fired back, destroying the drones in quick succession.

"Next panel! Let's go!" Kirk bit down, squeezing the pain out of his mind. Spock disappeared into light. Appearing on the panel in front of Kirk, standing horizontally. The last thing Kirk saw before disappearing was the green nebula cloud glowing in the distance.

 _How many more times can we do this?_ Kirk was feeling sick from beaming around so much. He knew this had to be having an effect on him at the cellular level. _If Bones ever finds out about this..._ He shook his head, aimed and beamed Spock through some exposed hull bars into a damaged maintenance area. Lights flashed red inside.

"It makes me _hunt_! Forces me to _kill_!"

 _"_ _Run away!"_

 _Damn._ Kirk and Spock ducked. Six infected officers in red environmental suits, armed with rifles, hid nearby. They screamed at the two _Enterprise_ officers. One by one, Kirk and Spock moved from place to place, stunning officers.

Two were firing at Kirk from beyond a metal wall. Unholstering a stun grenade, he lobbed it between them. The blast sent them flying back, out cold.

"I can't...control...anything!" One man shouted at Spock, his voice obviously pained.

Another yelled from the darkness. "Get me home, please!" He ran past Kirk, who missed him with a shot. "Don't shoot back! I have a family!"

 _They all had families._ Kirk could barely pull the trigger without wanting to kick himself. They were all scared, frightened and alone. Infected by that horrible virus.

Two more. Kirk grabbed his last stun grenade and whipped at them. Both crewmen were taken out. One tilted his head up weakly as he floated away. His eyes met Kirks.

A tear slid down his defeated face. "Save...me..." His body went limp. Kirk felt a pain down to his core. A new anger filled him. Anger at the Gorn for what they'd done to all these people.

"Captain?" Spock pointed up. "The next pad is ahead."

"Yeah." Kirk composed himself. "I've got you." They beamed up one by one, and then again to another part of the hull. Kirk took off, legs pumping, toward the hatch a distance away. Unlocking quickly, he climbed up and inside.

They had only a few minutes to arm the tower.

 _Now or never._

 **...**

 _Stardate 2259.32_

 _Frontier Starbase – Relay Tower – Inner Core_

Kirk reached a hand up, clasping the last rail on the ladder. Spock was a rung below his feet. Time was running out; they only had moments before the station would be too far gone to save.

He lifted himself up through the hatch and stood up, taking in the core chamber. It was a large, blue, bowl-shaped area; platforms circled the room on tracks orbiting a central area separated by a fence. Several grated maintenance pathways radiated from the center. At the center, a metal rail surrounded a circular metallic plate. The ceiling was an exact mirror image.

A computerized voice echoed out. _"Main power systems damaged. Please stand by."_

Kirk drew out his tricorder, scanning the gigantic room. Spock looked at the readings and nodded curtly. "Antenna is offline."

 _Always the hard way._ "Wait, wait, wait. Don't tell me. We need to do a manual override."

"It appears so."

Kirk stroked a sore arm. His body was still good to go. _But for how much longer?_ A tall utility box proved no match for Kirk's computer skills. He wasn't the best but today he had already become somewhat proficient at this. As the control panel shut, an alarm went off. The massive central panel opened into several triangular wedges over and over until it split and folded in. Out of the floor rose a massive four-pronged fork, with a ball of whitish-blue energy surging at the points.

"We have Gorn moving in on my position. I am uncertain how long we can hold out." T'Mar's voice sounded slightly on edge.

Two massive bolts of energy shot out from the fork's apex, moving around the room. Kirk and Spock ran up a maintenance pathway. '

"Hang tight, we'll be with you shortly." Kirk grimaced as the beams snapped another walkway. _If we'd chosen that one..._ The rotating walls stopped with a tone, giving Kirk a chance to aim at the pad and beam Spock across. Spock followed suit.

Kirk found himself stumbling over, reeling from the disorientation of being repeatedly dematerialized and put together again.

"I will hack the console, Captain." Spock hurried down a ways and accessed the inner controls of the utility box ahead. Within moments Spock had rerouted power, the second floor panelling opened and the other tower rose up from the floor. The power from the tower's stores began humming louder.

"We will need to open the discharge ports." Spock jogged back up the walkway, his boots clanking against metal.

"And fast or this whole place is gonna tear itself apart."The building energy needed to escape, so opening all four ports was a must. Kirk looked at his tricorder. Two minutes before the places was supposed to blow.

"And undoubtedly take us along with it." Quickly they moved to open the first two panel-like dischargers on either side of them. The panels unlocked and extended out of the wall, angling toward the beam.

Kirk's heart raced as he tore across the floor, sidestepping the beam of white hot energy streaking past him. Opening the last two ports was easy enough. With two clicks of the locks, the panels extended.

 _Done!_ A sweeping sensation of accomplishment relieved Kirk. "Let's go!" he shouted confidently. Around them, a droning alert siren came on. The energy began surging within the depths of the relay tower. The buzzing noise slowly ascended in frequency.

"I am not compelled to argue, sir!" _It is never a good sign when an alarm's urgency increases._ Spock's boots thumped against the grating as he bolted for the trapdoor hatch.

Kirk was a few steps ahead of him. He paused at the edge to catch his breath and took one last look at the room before jumping down the shaft.

As he slid down, he could feel the ladder rattling violently. Spock forewent the ladder and just jumped. Landing in a heap at the bottom, the two quickly ran for the exit.

Ten seconds until they fired. Kirk looked around in a panic. Spock ripped two rocket sleds off the wall, tossing one to Kirk. A twist of the handles activated both.

 **...**

"Miss, we need to move!" A red shirted officer waved at T'Mar as several other panicked crewmen and women hurried down the corridor outside.

"I'll be with you shortly, commander!" She took one last glance at her readings.

The target was aligned perfectly. With a press of a button, the last overload fail-safes were shut down.

"We must hurry!" She grabbed the officer's arm and ran from the room.

Outside, the relay tower's spherical head glowed bright with energy.

 _BOOM!_

A gigantic power surge shot an immense beam of pure energy right at the lead Gorn vessel. The ship exploded with massive force, sending debris in every direction.

 **...**

A deafening explosion of air. The chute ruptured. Above him, the relay tower fragmented from random explosions.

As if blasted out of a torpedo bay, Kirk and Spock felt the rapid decompression of air coupled with the power surge above them jettisoning the two out into the field of rubble and debris.

Moving at hundreds of meters a second, he dropped down from the exploding hull plating, tilting his rocket sled left to avoid flying debris. There was almost a nebula cloud of wreckage orbiting the station. Plastics, rock chunks, composite fibre materials, glass shards. The station was now officially a lost cause. The ebony exterior was pitted with dents and holes.

 _Right!_ A huge piece of wall almost grazed him. Despite the environmental controls inside his suit, sweat still beaded on the top of his head. Having the display of his rocket sled to guide his trajectory, he felt somewhat comfortable. It was, however, hard to move with it. If you steered to hard one way, the momentum might carry your lower half sideways, hitting anything you were trying to avoid in the first place. And if you accidently let go of the handles...

It was an older piece of Starfleet technology, and a lot more difficult to work with than the more advanced EV suits they had on the _Enterprise_. He had little experience with them, too. But at least it was more than he'd had with the sleds. They were bulky and awkward, usually meant for short distance travel outside a ship to perform maintenance.

 _Left!_ A chunk of metal barely missed his head. Even a single hit to his face mask could break it, killing him in seconds. Kirk's mind raced, considering what would have happened to his body had he hit that full speed. He _really_ wished he had that EV suit about now.

A massive semi-circular part of hull detached from the station with an explosion. Behind him, Spock swerved back and forth. Pieces of plastic obstructed his view briefly.

Looking to his right, Kirk saw several more pieces of metal and glass in his friend's path. "Hey, Spock! Look out!" Spock responded instantly.

"I am being as careful as I can." Which was hard, considering they were moving at a considerable clip. Spock wished he had completed more training in zero gravity, a thought crossing the captain's mind at the very same moment.

Winged vessels unleashed several volleys of fire on the already crumbling station. Kirk dipped himself just under a tether. Over a hunk of sheet metal. Past a chip off an inner ceiling.

A flash of red light caught the corner of his eye. _Phaser fire!_

Moving in beside the station, the _Enterprise_ began decimating the confused Gorn vessels. _Where have you been?_ He had never been so glad to see his ship. " _Enterprise_. Do me a favour and show our visitors the door."

 **...**

From the left helm controls on the bridge, Sulu responded. "With pleasure, sir." Picking his targets with expert precision, he locked onto two winged ships going by, firing several crimson beams out into the crowd of Gorn.

One by one, the ships quickly succumbed to the heavy fire, sending Gorn detritus flying.

"It's like a swarm of angry bees out there!" Chekov exclaimed, looking at his console screen.

 _Not a problem, Pavel._ Pursing his lips, Sulu balled his hands into fists before replacing them over his controls. Leaning forward, adjusting the _Enterprise_ 's course inside the ever-increasing and expanding debris field. "Just watch this, Chekov. They'll be running soon. The queen's gone. Without it," he looked at the randomly moving ships, "they have no leader. They're disorganized." The helmsman watched as a large piece from the largest destroyed drifted by the view screen.

Chekov checked his instruments. "I've got more incoming _wessels_. Diverting more power to forward shields."

"Bringing us about." The helmsman responded. A volley of photons struck a group of three vessels close to each other, sending all three up into a fiery blast.

From the ship, Sulu watched the overlay on the main monitor as the two blue dots moved through the rapidly decaying Starbase's wreckage. More eyes drifted to the readout. A spike in the readings caught the helmsman's attention.

"Captain, incoming just ahead. Take evasive action!"

 **...**

The voice echoed in his helmet. Yellow arcing light shot out in front of him. _Tether!_ Kirk wheeled downward, his heart pounding as he avoided the beam of energy. Rumbles shook the station to his right.

"Thanks for the heads up!" Kirk let out a sigh, his eyes wide and alert. Avoiding several shards of burnt metal and broken glass, he eyed a large hole in the side of the station.

 _A way in._ "Spock, I've found an access point. Two o'clock!" Kirk kicked his legs out of the way of a round arch with wires protruding from its center. He pulled his head back just in time to miss smacking his helmet on the bottom of a slowly rotating crate.

"Confirmed, sir!" Spock tilted right to dodge the twisted remnant of a Gorn ship's tail and aimed for the perforated section of the ring surrounding the station's main body. Both men leaned back as they entered the room, putting their rocket sleds on full reverse to create enough drag to come to a stop. There was a slight delay before their boots pulled them to a standing position on the ground.

The area before them was utterly destroyed. With a start, Kirk immediately recognized their surroundings. The one place he'd hoped the Gorn wouldn't target.

It was the officer's quarters.

 **...**

 _Stardate 2259.32_

 _Frontier Starbase – Living Quarters_

Kirk dropped his sled first. The bullet shaped device with handles dropped with a thud to the deck. Spock placed his down. Behind them, the floor was gone. It was at least fifty meters to the other end of the ring. Ahead, Kirk saw chairs float by. Circuitry in the ceiling sparked and smoked.

Moving into a small, well lit waiting area, Kirk observed several more objects suspended above a ring shaped console; a barrel, several boxes, a communicator. The doors opened, revealing three Gorn drones. Yellow lasers shot out from all three.

Hiding behind the console, Kirk fired phaser bursts at the flying pests. Spock powered his phaser and fired. The drones recoiled several times before exploding into several pieces.

 _The door._ Kirk looked closely. "Over there, the air seal on that door looks intact."

Spock looked around. He remembered that officer's quarters were near the transporter bay they had arrived in. "I believe the command center is close, barring any complications we should be there shortly."

 _Are you kidding me?_ "What makes you think there won't be any complications?"

The two men ambled into the room. After a scanner detected them, the doors behind them locked. Air rushed up through grates in the floor. Once pressure had returned to normal, they made their way out.

A wall burning. A couch. A small replicator console displaying static. Crumbling, burnt ceiling. No Gorn in sight. _Next room._

Two crewmen came barrelling down at them. The floor shook.

 _BOOOOM!_

"AAAHHHHHH!" The floor fractured, sending huge chunks of metal and rock flying into the air. The two officers let out screams as they hurtled up and back down into the fires below. Kirk dove to the edge of the floor, reaching out a hand down into the gap. His eyes showed horror. His breathing was rapid.

Getting up was difficult. Landing awkwardly on the floor had hurt his ribs. Down in the sinkhole, it looked like a pool of fire. Bits of floor were being devoured by the hungry flames. Feeling the heat licking at his fingers, he pulled back up.

Off to his right, a chunk of floor still remained attached to the wall. Kirk stepped back and took a flying leap, landing on his feet.

"This will be difficult." Spock said, gazing out over the destroyed room.

"Can't be too hard after what we've been through today." He furrowed his brow. It was unbelievable that just hours ago, he'd been playing chess. His stare held on Spock.

To the right of him, something moved. _Wires!_ The cord thrashed around in the air. "Watch out, those wires are live!"

"I see them." Spock took a step back, following the wire up to its source.

 _Another jump._ Kirk's legs felt sore with every step he took. Taking in a breath, he threw himself onto a second piece of marble, tumbling against an upright piece. Moving _very_ slowly, he inched around the rock and along a foot-wide pipe to the next section of floor that was stable. In the hole, he could hear sirens from a room. Several quarter doors were blocked. _Hope those people got out, must be like a furnace in there._

Spock walked across a winding pipe, putting his arms out to maintain his balance. When his foot slipped, he knelt down, putting a hand on the pipe. He retracted it, sensing the heat. His gloved hand was warmed up considerably. Up ahead, Kirk considered two ways to get to the next door; a long S-bend pipe or a jump. He would've taken the jump, if there wasn't another wire swinging about. _Pipe it is, then._ He stepped gingerly onto the pipe, putting one foot directly in front on the next to maintain his stability.

 _Creak._ He looked up, noting that the ceiling was the source of the noise. _Not good._ Kirk waved his hands up and down, anything to keep from falling into the heat below. It had to be _way_ over a hundred and fifty degrees Celsius.

"Hurry up, Spock!"

"I'll be there...momentarily." Spock struggled to cross the second pipe. Kirk's jaw clenched as he leaned sideways. After about twenty tenuous seconds, Spock stepped onto the solid floor. Together, he and the captain opened the doors.

Fires burned on the floor. Kirk squinted in the smoke. A piece of debris exploded in the flames.

"Help!" Kirk heard a call from nearby. Both his and Spock's heads turned.

"Hey, over here. You have to put out this fire." A security officer and a doctor waited in a small area in front of the washroom facilities.

"We may be able to manually trigger the fire suppression system." Spock suggested.

"Let's do it." In a few seconds, they flipped on the ceiling extinguishers, raining down white fire retardant foam on the flames.

"Thank you. If you weren't here, well...I don't know what." The man's sooty face looked relieved. His gaze shifted quickly between his two rescuers.

"We appreciate the gratitude, Lieutenant, but we have little time for it. Get your people to safety and await further orders." Spock said, with a slight tone of eagerness .

"Yes sir." The man said. He turned to his doctor, inspecting a dead officer behind him. "Come on, come on, run! " The two tore past the Vulcan and toward the door. Stopping just shy of it, they beamed out to another part of the station that was still secure.

After seeing them leave, Spock and Kirk opened the next set of doors and ran on. The next room posed a problem; the ceiling had collapsed, meaning there was little distance between them and raging fires below. Kirk crouched down, springing up to grab a broken metal piece jutting out of the ceiling still left. He jumped again, reaching for the next piece before hanging a moment to catch his breath. Spock tried a longer, more indirect approach.

Kirk reached out to a pipe he could grab. If he missed or fell, he would be torched before he hit anything solid. He flung himself through the air, landing on his chest.

"Oof!" He regrouped, gasping. Pulling himself up, he made his way along the rest of the pipe. He got to a door where the only way to go was down. He looked back to the Vulcan. "Clock's ticking, commander."

"I will be their shortly, Captain." Kirk turned and dropped down. Rubble crunched under his feet. He peered around, eyeing the broken ceiling. An explosion brought a huge piece down.

Three drones were patrolling. Kirk was becoming _really_ sick of seeing these things. He dropped out of sight, preparing to fire. Spock rushed in to join him, firing at one of the drones moving toward the Captain.

 _Nice stealth, Spock._ This felt weird; him being on the other side of this thought for once. Kirk raised and fired at the two remaining ones, clipping one and destroying the other. Spock let off a burst of blue energy, blowing the last one to pieces.

Kirk ran forward, making three rapid steps up the fallen ceiling and climbing up onto the next deck's floor behind a couch. Two wiry Gorn came in, obviously curious of the noise. Another drone followed. Kirk clicked his phaser to semi-automatic firing and unleashed beams on the Gorn. They and the drone were eliminated by the time Spock had gotten up there. The two raced for the open doorway. Noticing a research PADD on the ground, Kirk scanned it. Anything useful on the Gorn was welcomed.

A third wiry approached, investigating the sound. Kirk aimed before Spock could say anything, railing on the Gorn. It flew backward in a heap and a shrill. The captain scooped up two grenades and slipped them onto his utility belt.

A blue armoured Gorn stood around the corner, intently watching a dancing electrified wire. Kirk scurried behind a barrel, and then to the opposite side of the room. It was better they approached from two sides. Kirk had gotten up close and personal on more than one occasion with the weapon that Gorn carried. It was essentially shrapnel fired into you. Taking another scan of another PADD, he supported his phaser pistol in his hand. Aiming around the corner, he and Spock aimed.

Blue and red bolts sent the Gorn screeching over onto its back, dead. Kirk ran over pointing his phaser. Once he confirmed it wasn't going to give him trouble, he stepped into a wide hole in the floor, dropping through it. Landing on his feet, he turned to look up the hole for his first.

"Have you sustained injuries, Captain?" Spock asked as he squatted down to descend as well.

Kirk paused, waiting for his adrenaline to calm. Besides a dull ache, he was fine. "Surprisingly no. You?"

"I am, quite remarkably, unscathed as well."A wall had fallen over the open floor, making it look as if there was a horizontal door, locked. Kirk opened it and dropped in, landing on and his hand and feet, clutching his phaser at his side.

 _Appears to be a platform._ He ran past burning debris. Hanging over the edge by his hands, he dropped to the floor. Spock followed after, moving absolutely silently. Kirk scissor stepped into a hall, taking down another wiry from behind. In the room ahead, four drones came over the higher floor levels.

"Give me cover fire!" Kirk yelled, running through heavy drone lasers as he leapt up into some wreckage and into a small hallway to the side. Another PADD displayed someone's forgotten information on Gorn weapon analysis. _Scotty's gonna want to see this._ Seeing that the hall led around a corner, he ran back out to assist Spock in finishing off the drones.

"Help! We're stuck! Is anyone else there?" A voice called out from somewhere close by.

"Did'ya here that?" Kirk looked back to the Vulcan first officer just behind him.

"I did." The two jumped up three levels of destroyed flooring and through a detached doorway.

Across a gap, two Starbase crewmen stood outside their room, perilously close to the edge. "Oh man, you have no idea how glad we are to see you."

 _BOOM!_

Both men let out screams as the floor collapsed, sending the two falling into the wreckage below. More rubble fell over top of them, silencing their yells. Kirk jerked forward, looking down into the dark, smouldering pile for any sign of life. There was none. Spock's swallowed, seeing his captain's look of despair and grief.

"Oh, damn it!"Kirk wanted to destroy something. _We should've been faster._

Spock rushed over to him. He put a hand on his shoulder, speaking in a pleading tone. "Captain, there is nothing we can do. We must keep moving if we want to avoid the same fate." He would not allow the captain to illogically and irrationally find ways to find himself guilty of the officer's deaths.

Kirk jerked away, ripping his arm away from Spock. "Just get me back to my ship!"

"We can proceed through the maintenance tunnels." They carefully made their way down the crumbling rubble. Kirk jumped twice, landing with a hard thump. He looked back at the smouldering mess, seeing the limp, twisted bodies of the two officers he was just too late to save. He shut his eyes and stormed down the maintenance hall.

An explosion rocked the tunnel. Behind the two of them, they no longer saw debris, fire and carnage. Only space.

The air began sucking out of the room. It was like a wind tunnel. Trying to walk forward, Kirk could only manage two steps before his feet slipped. He couldn't get them to stay down, to push off.

"Ugh!" Kirk fell forward. He reached out his hands, pawing at the floor.

He tried to crawl. _No traction._

Both feet lifted off the ground. His hands grabbed wildly at an indentation in the wall. _"SPOCK!"_

He looked back.

Space waited to devour him.


	10. Chapter 10

_Stardate 2259.32_

 _USS Enterprise – Sickbay_

"Over here! I need that osteogenic stimulator stat!"

McCoy tried hard to shout over the commotion. The woman lying on the bed writhed in pain, screaming rolling through sobs escaping her throat. A snapped bone protruded from her calf, dripping blood on the floor below. A tawny haired crewman held her slight hand, trying to contain his own pain as he regarded his girlfriend helplessly. Nurses gave each of them and the other patients injections of every kind, to ward off infection and deaden intense pain.

Since they had arrived, the _Enterprise_ was again picking up survivors from yet another disaster zone. Vulcans and humans were dropped back off at New Vulcan to alleviate pressure on the ship's exhausted resources and staff. Now, floods of screaming, shouting and crying officers were brought aboard, traumatized at the sight of broken bones, blood and exposed flesh everywhere.

Sweating and barking orders, Leonard McCoy did his best to keep calm amidst the devastation. Another dead body was wheeled by him, trailed by a crying security officer and an inconsolable doctor, both restrained by _Enterprise_ security. _How many is that now?_ McCoy had no idea of the death toll, but it was high.

"Sir! Patients 48, 56 and 89 are showing signs of an unknown infection!" Pointing over, Simmons indicated three sedated people, their features etched with strange glowing liquid. "I've never seen anything like it."

"Do what you can! I'm busy with Marbury!" He looked back to the woman still gasping at his side, watching the doctors gingerly set her tibia back where it should be. "I _promise_ we will fix you up." She gave a weak nod. "It's going to get worse before it gets better, all right?" He squeezed her hand. "Okay. Go now."

The officer let out a shrill cry as the ends of the bone finally snapped into place. "Take some images before you do anything else." He grabbed the arm of a passing doctor. "We need to begin separating the ill from the wounded before any more come down with this disease."

The man never looked up from his PADD. "Sounds good to me, but we're running out of places to put them. Anymore and we'll have to expand out into the hallways."

McCoy grabbed the tablet from the man's hands and looked him in the eye. "If that's what we have to do, then that's what we _will_ do. Got it?"

"Understood." He swallowed. Just then, a chiming sound came from the PADD. McCoy handed it back to him. "One of mine's crashing. Got to go!" He disappeared like a shot through a set of glass doors. Only then did it occur to McCoy that he'd never seen the man before in his life. _Must be one of the evacuees._

A sudden commotion in the corner of the room caught his attention and he raced towards it. Two nurses were trying to calm down a man that had climbed up onto a biobed. He was grabbing his head and screaming. One of the women reached for his arm and he swatted her away with the back of his hand. She cried out and fell on her backside, holding her cheek. The other nurse dropped to her side and helped her stand.

"You okay?" McCoy asked. She nodded, and he turned his focus to the man, who was still yelling at the top of his lungs, his face almost purple. "Get me a hypo of jerparikine," he shouted, naming a strong sedative. He looked at the man's vitals on the monitor. Heart rate elevated, blood pressure dangerously high, and antibodies out in full force. _As if his system's fighting something..._ A hand slapped the hypo into his, and he raised it, preparing to tranquilize the man.

Before he could administer the drug, the patient let out a strangled cry that cut short. He dropped in a heap to the bed's surface. McCoy watched in horror as his levels took a nosedive.

"We're losing him!" The women who'd attempted to restrain him and a medical tech took their places by the bed as McCoy barked out orders and demanded equipment.

Six minutes later, he called it. Ripping off his gloves, he turned to one of his staff members. "When things quiet down, I want a full postmortem on this one. We've _got_ to get to the bottom of this." He punched the palm of one hand for emphasis. Walking away from the sheet-draped body, he stopped briefly to survey the room, hands on his hips. If anything, it seemed even fuller than it had been before.

An officer who looked older than McCoy yet who wore the stripes of an ensign lay on his stomach. Strips of burnt uniform clung to his exposed, seared flesh. A young woman who could have been his daughter was hunched over on the next bed, coughing violently, clutching a bloody arm to her chest. A young man curled up against a wall, nursing gashes on his torso and reeling at his right leg twisted in a way any doctor would recognize was anatomically wrong. Two security officers escorted a heavily pregnant woman through the maze of people. A torn sleeve from one of the officer's uniforms was wrapped around her forehead like a bandage. What looked like a family was crouched next to the exit door; a mother holding a crying baby and trying to rein in a toddler as their feverish father was carried away on a stretcher by two orderlies. Masses of broken, burnt and bloody people covered the beds and the floors.

As if he had set off an alarm, medical staff members became aware of his presence and streamed over to him, PADDs in hand.

"Sir! Could you take a look at these cultures? I think that-"

"Doctor, I've got the images back from Kimotushi. It's not good. Severe pulmonary damage-"

"-running out of rulantarine, and so far it's the only thing that seems to be having any effect on the virus."

"Forty-seven more just arrived, and we haven't got any clean sheets left. I don't know _where_ we're going to find-"

"-spoke with Walschman, and he wants an update on the number of dead-"

" _Enough_!" McCoy shouted. All his petitioners fell silent. "Look," he continued, "can you just give me a _minute_? When I come back, I'll deal with y'all _one at a time_ , okay?" They nodded. "Good." He strode off towards his office and shut the door behind him.

He could have replicated some hot, strong coffee. Or played some soothing music to calm his nerves. Or even studied the latest reports in a careful, orderly fashion. McCoy did none of those things.

Instead, he plopped down in his chair, folded his arms across the surface of his desk, laid his head down and sobbed. Big, fat tears of frustration, anger, sadness, and helplessness coursed down his cheeks. _It's too much...and so bloody useless. I'm only one man. What can_ I _do? Why is everyone looking to_ me _for the answers?_

 _Because you are the Chief Medical Officer of this ship._ Spock's voice intruded on his grief. _You have a position of authority here. As for what you can do, being "_ only one man _"...we are all only one person. I am. The captain is. But we do not work alone. As one, we can do much. But as many become one...we can do more. Together._

McCoy wiped his eyes with his sleeves, then balled his hands into fists. "Darn right. Darn right we can." He stood up slowly from his chair. "But I'm no good to them in _here_." Fire blazed in his eyes, his back ramrod straight, as he boldly headed for the door, new purpose in his steps. _You keep doing your part down there, sirs; I'm fighting right alongside you up here..._

Before he made it past the doors, a nurse was already rushing up towards him, PADD in hand. "Can you sign off on this for me?"

He took the tablet and stylus from her hands and added his name to the bottom of the order. "We need to get some semblance of order back in here. Tell Hartwick and T'Wana to divert all non-life threatening injuries to the secondary triage site. Anyone the other divisions can spare with basic first aid training ought to be able to handle..." As he continued giving orders, his confidence only grew. _The fight's only begun. But I've got plenty of ammo..._

 **...**

Spock raised his tricorder. The door was still there, deep in the walls, but inactive.

Kirk's fingers were slipping. His hands burned, trying to maintain a grip.

 _Whoosh._ Spock remotely shut the doors. The loud sucking stopped. Kirk laid on the floor. His chest rose and fell rapidly, supplying his pounding heart with oxygen. He blew upward to rid his forehead of sweat. "That was close."

"Are you okay?" Spock knelt down beside him, supporting Kirk's shoulders on his hand.

Kirk got up, steadying himself. "Yeah, I'm good." He wasn't but now wasn't the time for talking about feelings. They turned the left corner and pried a door open.

Spock got into the turbo lift first, voicing the command into the lift's computer response system. Kirk hobbled in after. "Do you know how many times I would've died if it wasn't for you?"

"I do not care to count, Captain. You do not need to feel obligated to me." Spock's mouth curved into the barest hint of a smile.

"No, no. You got me all wrong. This isn't about obligation; this is about you being the best first officer I could ask for."

"I appreciate your opinion of my actions, sir."

"You know, when we're off duty, call me Jim. You know Bones does. And I _do_ want to get you a drink later though."

Spock thought. "That would be nice, sir." With all the strenuous activity they'd done, both men were parched for water and lacking electrolytes that would be welcome in their tired bodies.

 **...**

 _Stardate 2259.32_

 _USS Enterprise – Sickbay_

Doctor McCoy loved sickbay. _Normally._

Compared to the burning depths of an exploding Starbase, or being cornered by blood thirsty ravenous reptiles, it would have felt like heaven. Instead, it was hell. Hundreds of people were placed wherever they could fit, being attended and cured by various med staff.

Still, with all the heart ache, he worried about Kirk. And Spock. And T'Mar, for that matter. They were still over on that death trap somewhere.

 _Damn it, Jim. Where are you?_ He had, much to his displeasure, been _beamed_ out of the base and onto the _Enterprise._ He would have rather stayed come over on shuttle crafts with the infected, so he could monitor them. _Oh well, the faster the better, I suppose._

With the _Enterprise_ 's help, dozens of shuttles and escape pods had escaped the station. Cold comfort in the face of so much destruction, so much death, but McCoy was happy any time that hundreds of lives were saved. If only he could have eased the pain of the many others calling out for missing and lost loved ones. The echoing screams of mothers crying for children and husbands calling desperately for wives haunted him. Finally, the panic had calmed down and the chief medical officer had time to take a breath.

Outside, the ship's arsenal was still making quick work of the Gorn fighters. _Hope the damn lizards get blown to hell._

McCoy looked up. He was glad to see familiar faces. Heck, he was glad to see living, non-bloody faces. Glad not to see exposed organs or missing limbs, though his face was still masked with worry.

Suddenly, he saw an amazing sight indeed. Out in the hall, entering sickbay was none other than Montgomery Scott. He was carrying his PADD, or Personal Access Data Device. McCoy put on a wry smile.

"Well, I didn't expect to see _you_ here." The doctor's mild southern drawl made it sound as if Scotty had walked into an old country farmhouse.

The engineer rolled his eyes. "I don't like to be here anymore than you like transporters, but frankly, I need your help." He slid the tablet to McCoy. On it was displayed the file of all Scotty's received scans and folders.

"Oh, sorry about that." He noted the several items he had sent Scotty."You see, I was busy with the virus, and still am, by the way. I've got all available staff on it as we speak."

"Well, that's okay. But I actually need help with these scans I've got here. I am making notes on the Captain and Mister Spock's findings for future reference."

McCoy smiled. "Making notes and conducting tests? Isn't that a job for the science teams?"

"It should be, but since the Captain already sent me them, Keenser and I have been studying these things. I don't want to delegate this when I can do it myself." Scotty sighed. "These ones are the ones we decide to consult you about."

McCoy checked them. "Weaponry? Are you feeling alright? I'm a doctor, not a security officer. I don't do weapons."

"But they're biological in nature."

 _What did he say?_ McCoy stopped and turned back around to face his crewmate. "Biological? Let me see that." He came around, interfacing the information on the main medical screen above the computer console Scotty was at. "Curious..."

"That's _exactly_ what I said! It's half organic, half technological." Scotty pointed out the metallic structure of the weapon. McCoy waved his hands to blow up the image, zeroing in on one spot. Running in depth scans, he came to one conclusion. _Definitely organic material_ s. _Used in a weapon, though?_

Scotty continued. "I was wondering, what if they _grow_ their weapons?"

"Grow them? I suppose it's...possible. In theory." McCoy looked at the image of the example weapon Scotty scanned. Its thick barrel with a jagged body just made him ponder the nature of its creators. "Those must make for some pretty weird looking crops, though. Unless, of course, they're grown in a Petri dish."

"Well, continuing on, the organic nature of the weapons made me wonder just what kind of an effect it would have on human users."

"Well, I don't think it'll grow on you." McCoy stopped, frowned and sighed. "Check that, I _hope_ it doesn't."

"The captain used that weapon. I worried it may have some bad effects on him, or anyone else that touches it. Like, the nervous system, for instance."

"You're right. This nasty thing could do all sorts of horrible things to a person. Good call." McCoy leaned over the tablet. "What else do you have?"

"Oh, all sorts of things. I'm still awaiting more results on them, and more samples from the other Gorn. I heard they use different types of weapons, real nasty things. And then, the science labs also want a look for the valuable information." Scott put his hands on the computer, leaning on his outstretched arms.

"You're not getting this one. It was bad enough decontaminating you before when Jim gave you that Gorn rifle. I'm not letting it or any other weapon out of quarantine until I have a good reason why I should."

"Okay. I wish I could have a better look at them though." He looked longingly across the bay at the weapon suspended in a glass quarantine case.

McCoy was already talking to some other doctors. "Zharkov, see to these blood samples, run every test you can think of, and log _everything_. Woodson and Keith, I need a rush put on those particulate samples in the science labs. Make sure they're taking proper quarantine measures."

"Aye sir." Two men and one woman all responded simultaneously, looking amongst each other after.

"Right on it, doctor."

McCoy turned back to Scotty. "Okay, let's get to work on those other findings. I'm all ears." For once, he actually kind of enjoyed working alongside him.

 **...**

 _Stardate 2259.32_

 _Frontier Starbase – En route to Command Center_

Kirk and Spock tore out of the turbo lift. The captain clutched his phaser, ready to attack. Their helmets were left behind in the lift, having both become too warm.

T'Mar called to them over the comms. _"Captain, we are under direct attack."_

Spock answered. "We are approaching your position." Kirk turned left and burst into the darkened flaming room. For him, time suddenly slowed like molasses as he analysed the situation. A red shirted officer had his arms up; a small Gorn rusher ran toward him. A wiry fired from behind a box.

Kirk's hear raced. He would _not_ let another person die in front of him.

He showered the Gorn in phaser fire. It jumped on the red shirt. A struggle. Arms and legs flailed. The red shirt heaved the Gorn off. Kirk kept firing. The rusher collapsed.

 _Tat-Tat-Tat!_ On a heel, Kirk whipped around, adding to Spock's fire, downing the wiry Gorn fighter.

T'Mar continued. _"Use caution, they attack in large group. I cannot fight them off much longer."_

"Hang on, we're on our way!" A Gorn dropped from a hole in the ceiling, just beside a huge pile of wreckage burning near Kirk.

 _The Helios device._ It was the one that took the Helios device. Or at least, one that looked similar. A second identical reptile jumped down beside it.

Spock, Kirk, and the officer he saved all opened fire on the Gorn. Crimson bursts shot out in quick succession, all of them hitting their mark. Both creatures were downed in moments. Kirk ran over to retrieve a weapon they were carrying. Something about it seemed different from the others. It was the size of a phaser rifle and rounded at the barrel end, but it was unique somehow.

He reached right into the fire, almost without thought to retrieve one. Grabbing the other rifle, he jammed the ammunition from it into his. He then turned and raced out toward T'Mar's location.

"Lieutenant commander, thank you. Stay here and await beam out." Spock called back to the red shirt as he ran after. The man answered and stepped back from the flames.

Kirk saw it all. Two blue-shirts, (science or medical, who cared) were hiding and firing from the protection of some generated force fields. Closer to him, two wiries were doing the same thing.

 _Clever, but not enough._ Kirk raised the weapon he had. Fully automatic projectiles fired out at lightning speed. One to his right dropped almost immediately in a hail of their projectiles. From across the room Spock gave an affirming look to the two tired officers.

Spock was busy finishing off the second Gorn, when Kirk broke for the door. A blue armoured Gorn and two small rushers were just outside.

 _How the heck do they know we're here w_ ith an single expert motion, he reached to his belt, unholstered a grenade and underhand pitched it at the largest Gorn as the door opened. The creature snarled loudly as it stuck to his chest, making him stumble back.

A bang. A flash. All three were decimated. Kirk nodded to the relieved crewmen and ran through the open doors. Gorn surrounded a U-shaped console from all sides, shooting from behind couches, tables and plants.

"We are outnumbered."

 _Think positive, Spock._ "We have _them_ surrounded." He tilted his head forward, looking up at Spock's confused face.

"I do not follow your logic." Spock aimed his and phaser.

Kirk lobbed a grenade. "Never mind. Let's just take care of them and get to T'Mar."

"Affirmative." The grenade exploded, sending one of the wiries into the air. Kirk discharged his weapon on another beaming in. Spock finished off a closer one. They continued on a couple more, running around the side of the console to fend off an attack coming from up the stairs.

A security officer, a commander and an ensign stood behind the posts, clutching their hand phasers close by. Two more wiries fell victim at close range to the onslaught of projectiles from Kirk's gun.

Two muscular Gorn and one blue came down the stairs quickly, shooting. Enough was enough.

 _T'Mar._ She hadn't called back. _We need to hurry!_ He reloaded and fired back, overwhelming the three of them in an assault. Spock took down the last one behind a doorpost. Kirk took off up the stairs. Spock scooped up a weapon similar to Kirk's and gave chase.

Arriving in the command center, the two stopped to see what had happened. Two security officers in red and T'Mar stood just in front of the commodore's chair, shooting down at three oncoming Gorn. Two shots hit one of the officers, knocking him down. T'Mar gritted her teeth and fired back.

"T'Mar!" Spock called out. A large, muscular Gorn turned around, aiming its weapon.

Spock and Kirk shared a look before diving behind separate console.

 _Tat-Tat-Tat!_ Kirk rolled and got into a crouched position. Poking up, he aimed his hand phaser and shot down a wiry. Spock shot at the large muscular one.

Three Gorn beamed in. Kirk eyed the two blue armoured lizards flanking the massive horned Gorn. _Their leader, like Spock said?_

The imposing beast growled something in Gorn language, pointing to the officer, and then to T'Mar. The red-shirt was quickly shot down from behind. T'Mar was grabbed with two meaty arms around her neck, restraining her.

Kirk rose up, exchanging fire with the muscular lizard blocking their way. Spock shot down the other wiry coming closer to him. Three yellow tornado-like beams sucked T'Mar and the other three Gorn away.

 _They have taken T'Mar._ Spock's muscles clenched.

Exhaustion made Kirk slide into a sitting position. _We're not going to get her back here._ "Beam us up, Mister Scott!"

 _"_ _Aye, sir."_

Spock holstered his phaser and flung himself over the console, landing on his feet and one hand. Looking up with anger at his adversary, he sprinted toward it.

 _You will not get away._

Spock wanted to take care of this personally.

Lights. Spock could feel himself start to dematerialize.

His legs and arms kept pumping. Harder. Faster.

He vaulted at the Gorn. It turned with surprise at him.

Spock hit the Gorn. The lights got brighter, pulling him away.

The Gorn became surrounded with swirling light.

 **...**

 _Stardate 2259.32_

 _Unknown Location_

 _"_ _The worst has happened. My Starbase is in ruins, my shuttle crew has been captured by...the Gorn. They've begun torturing us for information, but we don't know what they want. And the worst part is that all of this is my fault. These things came through the tear in space time that I was so eager to explore. But how was I to know? How could anyone know? I was acting in the best interests of Starfleet! But now we've met an enemy that I'm not sure even Starfleet can withstand..."_

With all the ships he'd seen, Starfleet's armada wouldn't be able to hold up. They were well made, rugged ships, but weren't built primarily for fighting anyways, so defeat would be inevitable. The steady flow of backup Gorn vessels would eventually wear down and destroy all of them, even the constitution-class heavy cruisers.

Beaten up and worn down, Commodore Daniels lay slumped against the wall of a dark room. His fellow officers were either moaning and breathing convulsively or unconscious. Or maybe even...

 _No. I can't think that way._ Daniels felt anguish for his crew. He never wanted them to get hurt. He never wanted anyone to get hurt. Now, his entire station was gone, and probably most of the crew, too. Even, possibly, the _Enterprise_ , if they'd arrived too late.

Abaran was nowhere to be seen. The young man was a loyal, although reluctant follower of Daniels. Now, he was most likely being hit or clawed or tortured in some grisly manner.

 _I tried!_ He had. Daniels had tried to fly back to the Starbase, tried to get people out with his crew. But they were captured, surrounded by Gorn fighters, subdued and brought...here. The shuttle was probably destroyed. The last thing the commodore could remember was something that felt like being in a transporter beam, but different. A bad kind of different.

Other members of his crew were suffering. He was here, and here there was no Starfleet, no rank. There was only the ever increasing chance of dying alone.

 _I was working for Starfleet's-_ he stopped. He had attempted over and over to rationalize this. There _wasn't_ a way he could have predicted that these things would arrive on the Vulcan's doorstep. What if it had been a peaceful, benevolent race that wanted to offer a cure or knowledge? He'd be praised for his actions, forever known as the man to instigate first contact.

 _Forever known._ That was never happening out there on its own. Frontier Starbase was as far away from Earth as he could be placed. All just because they didn't like his attitude. So what if he wasn't a sociable guy, and liked his drinks a little? He would just be a foot note in history, that angry man in Starfleet's equivalent to the outfield wall.

 _Was it so bad to want a little credit? A little glory?_ Just a little, after all he'd done in his years of service. Hell, the cadet playing Captain got glory for _one_ thing, however amazing, and he gets the flagship of the fleet. _Everyone_ loves _him_! Everyone reveres the admiralty. Meanwhile, who cared about Daniels?

 _No one._ No one beyond the "Oh, yeah, _that_ guy. He's some high ranker, isn't he?" and the random ensigns who see him as a stepping stone for greater things.

Exhaling a ragged breath, the highest ranking man among them crawled over to an injured officer. He tried to come up with the words that he couldn't seem to formulate. _This wasn't my fault, not entirely._ He placed a hand on a young woman's arm.

"I'm...sorry..." His eyes grew wide at the crewwoman's injuries.

"For...what?" She was bleary eyed and dazed. Probably didn't even know who she was, let alone what he had really said.

"For all of..." he grit his teeth, waving his hands in the air. "... _this!_ " Seeing her inquisitive look, he lowered his voice to a comforting level. His eyes panned around the room to address the rest of his crew. "I...am sorry...for getting you into this..." He couldn't finish. Swallowing hard, he repressed a shudder and closed his eyes. Each painful second was a punch to the little pride and dignity, the order and command that he'd fought to hold onto. The next words met all the ears in the room with silence.

"I failed you. But if I can help..."

" _No_ , you can't. You've done enough." An angry voice responded, though shallow and breathy. The red shirted commander grimaced and lurched forward, releasing his previous meal onto the floor in the corner. Daniels' eyes met the floor. He wasn't going to refute it.

"We tried. You did what you could." A calmer, steadier voice came back. The commodore felt a light touch of a hand on his shoulder. He couldn't look into her eyes. Undeterred, she shifted across the dirt floor quietly, gingerly to avoid aggravating her gashed arm, thigh, and torso.

"I am not exonerating you for whatever you did. But whatever happens, we stand together. No backing down, eh?" Her eyes met his. It held for a moment before he nodded. The others were just as scared and hurt.

Even though they hated serving under him at times, and couldn't stand being assigned to the far edge of space, something in that moment drew the lost crew together.

Death was coming. Sooner or later, the Gorn had to lose patience. Their only hope was a rescue. But who out here would? Where was home?

In the flurry of hurt and loss, questions and no answers, the brave shuttle crew of Frontier Starbase rallied together, resolutely deciding to face this eyes open, together.

There was nothing else they could do.

 **...**

 _"_ _Why? Why did I listen to Daniels? Why didn't I listen to my wife? She warned me, she wouldn't stop warning me. But I thought I knew everything. At least everything Daniels told me. Damn him. Damn his promises of promotion, his promises of glory. Nothing but empty promises. And now we're all going to die at the hands of these...things from God knows where. I never should have left home. I never should've left my wife."_

Abaran was in pain, but through it he could remember every single word he'd recorded on what would be his last personal log.

His thoughts were all he could use to drown out the awful noises, screeches and faces of the reptilian monsters that had abducted his crew. To his commodore's credit, he had turned back. He had made an attempt, a late one, to help.

 _Maybe if you didn't start this glory hunt. If only you had just kept on being the berating, cranky jerk of a leader you were before, and left the Vulcans alone. Daniels, you damn-_

"Argh!" The pained burned into his body. In the dark, he couldn't see how much he bled, or what was what. All his Starfleet training, all his medical officer's advise, all of it didn't work against the trauma. All at once, he was losing his whole life, and all of his friends. All because of his stupidity. All because of the commodore he'd trusted and followed. But the creatures that had them would torture all indiscriminately. He kinda felt sorry for Daniels.

Breathing heavily against the cold, wet wall, he closed his eyes and sighed. Getting angry and raging at his absent commanding officer only made his heart rate rise, and only made his hurt more.

 _Those reptiles._ He could see the hideous faces, the large teeth, and those bone-crunching tools they had. He could tell easily this wasn't just for information. For the creatures, it was fun.

Panic ran through his veins. _I have to get out! Have to!_ His wild eyes scanned the room, squinting to adjust to the dim lighting. _Wall, ceiling, wall, locked door, objects..._

None of which could do anything to get him out. _Of course._ What if he did? What was the creature's punishment for resistance?

 _Gotta...forget..._ He shut his eyelids again, squeezing them as if he could eliminate the gore, the blood, the sights he'd wanted to forget. _Starbase assignments are supposed to be safe from unknown threats..._

Peace. Calm. His mind left the present situation, and faded back to happier times. For Abaran, it may be the last time he'd get to think of them.

 _Diane._ The short, sweet woman with shoulder length chestnut hair who had stuck by him through all of it. Until the whole idea of promotion came up. That had split them, caused an obvious rift. She was all the way back on Earth visiting. He had enjoyed the time away from her, enjoyed not hearing her voice nagging at him. Now, he tried as hard as he could to hear it in his head.

 _Diane. Earth._ His wife and his home; he knew that he'd never see either again.

A tear streaked down his cheek. More. It was all too much for him to bear. The sounds of reptilian vocalizations and distant screams echoed again.

 **...**

 _Stardate 2259.32_

 _USS Enterprise – Transporter Room_

Chekov's hands flew across the console, locking onto Kirk and Spock's bio signatures.

Powering the transporter, he initiated the beam. In moments, his two officers would be safe. Spock started moving, causing Chekov to readjust.

 _No...oh no!_ A third, foreign signature appeared on the screen, going up with the Vulcan commander.

 _Gorn._ The Russian's face drained of colour. _Vhat have I done?_ He double checked the display. Hearing the familiar sound of rematerializing matter, he looked up. A massive figure appeared. Some of it was Spock.

The Gorn. It was a massive lizard, with armour plating on its thighs, shoulders and chest. It turned its head, almost meeting Chekov's eyes. _Yikes!_ Chekov dropped below the console and slid under.

Lifting Spock into the air, the creature hurled the Vulcan at Kirk, sending the both tumbling down the side steps of the transporter pad.

A red-shirted officer grabbed a phaser rifle off the wall and fired. The Gorn roared, grabbing the man's head and slamming him into the protective wall behind him. The man collapsed, holding his head. The Gorn sniffed the air looking around before tearing down the hall.

The red alert claxon went off. Lights flashed. Kirk and Spock sprinted after it.

From under his console, Chekov looked out of his hiding place. _Sorry, sirs._

 **...**

"Left unrestrained, the intruder could cause considerable damage to this vessel." Spock turned as a doctor ran past in the opposite direction. His senses were on high alert.

"Then, let's _restrain_ him!" Kirk answered. A science officer down the hall collapsed, clutching his stomach. _There!_ "Uhura, we're in pursuit! Lock down all doors on this level! We're going to flush him to the cargo hold. Have security meet us there."

"Aye, Captain." Uhura reached forward, flipping a switch on her console. "Security – we need a containment team near the transporter room. We have a Gorn intruder."

Kirk and Spock sprinted around the corner, legs pumping. A man bowled over, writhing on the black floor in agony. He lifted his hand weakly. "He went that way..."

Kirk looked back as he ran past the man, surprised to see him wave them onward. He resisted the urge to help and continued down the hall. An open ring intersection that led in four different directions loomed before them. The center of the ring was bisected by a catwalk. Scotty and two other officers fired phaser rifles into the hall on the left.

"Get to your station!" Kirk's tone brooked no argument.

Still they hesitated. "What are you waiting for?" Scotty shouted. "You heard the Captain!" He lowered his weapon and raced into the turbolift to meet Keenser. In an attempt to lighten their loads, Kirk and Spock quickly threw aside their Gorn weapons.

Spock whipped his head around, looking for the escaped Gorn. Not finding him, he flipped open his comm. "Lieutenant Uhura. We have lost visual on the intruder."

"Hang on, just need to let them know." Uhura switched from the security team radio to Spock's comm. _"We have eyes on it. It is headed right towards security."_ She watched the reptilian highlighted figure ran down the hall. _"They're standing by, armed and ready."_

 _Sweet._ "I want that thing contained. Do whatever it takes."

 _"_ _Aye, Captain."_

Shots fired. A wall panel exploded; fumes leaked from the punctured pipes, igniting. Kirk and Spock ducked under the jets of flame and continued.

Spock frowned. "Captain, it appears to have changed course."

"What happened to the security team?" He ran into another four-way hall; several officers, men were writhing on the ground. A few stared at them in shock.

 _Crap!_ "Never mind!" Kirk clapped Spock on the back and continued onwards.

"What is the creature's current heading?" Spock asked

Uhura located the foreign signature on the schematic. _"It's headed right toward the officer's quarters!"_

"Damn it!" Kirk exclaimed. _It's midday, so there can't be too many people in there._ Who was he kidding? The room would be packed.

Spock's head whipped around. "We cannot allow it to come in direct contact with the crew."

 _"_ _Attempting to shut down all entry points..."_ Uhura's fingers flew across the screen. She stopped, biting her lip. _"Too late, he's inside."_

Kirk grabbed a door, prying it open. "Lock it in!"

 _"_ _Aye aye, Captain."_

"Mister Scott, open the door!"

Scotty scratched his head. _"Do you think it's wise to go into that room with that beastie thing?"_

"My _crew_ is in there! Open it _NOW_!"Kirk's entire body shook with tension.

 _"_ _Aye Captain!"_

 **...**

"Stay back! No, no, no!" Ensign Evan Johnston panicked as he watched the hovering mechanized attacker move toward him. With a thrust, it jerked the razor-sharp needle into his back.

"Ugh! Oh..." He could feel his head swirl. His vision going black.

 _What is happening?_

Kirk watched as the man pushed off from the ground, straightening up slowly. The natural black pupil hue was replaced by a flaming orange glow. He grabbed a pipe off the wall and took off toward them.

Kirk cursed under his breath. "Phasers to stun." His pistol whined as it powered up. Two stun shots caused the crewman to recoil and tighten up.

Spock stunned the drone. Shot it again, destroying it. Kirk knocked out the red-shirt.

Beams shot by Kirk's head. Phaser beams. Two red-shirted security personnel ran up the stairs, shooting back at him.

"You take them, I'll get the drones!" To be honest, Kirk hadn't seen the drones just a moment ago. They had just appeared from nowhere. Kirk came up from behind a panel firing. Both drones fragmented mid air in a burst of energy.

Breathing behind him. Kirk whipped around on his toes, firing a stun shot into the chest of a man coming out of a quarters behind him. He punched him out, letting the man drop as he raced up the stairs to find Spock.

The two infected men were yelling warnings to their commanding officers while shooting at them. As Kirk ascended the top step, he saw Spock isolating one of them. He stunned him, pinched his nerve. Kirk stunned the last one behind a glass information panel. He stood there, hands on his knees, his chest once again heaving.

There were bodies of men and women everywhere, each only a few meters apart. Other quarters were locked up. Kirk exchanged a silent stare with Spock, prompting him to check his tricorder. After a second, his facial muscles relaxed.

"They are alive, Captain."

 _Really?_ Spock couldn't lie, as he'd said before. But Kirk could swear some of them weren't breathing. "Bones, we've got injured," he reported breathlessly, emphasizing the last word with relief."How's that antidote coming?" he said, descending the staircase.

McCoy's ears perked up, his gaze switching from the helical images on the screen to the surface of the table. _"It's a work in progress, Jim."_

Spock surveyed the damaged room. "You may want to progress faster, doctor."

 _"_ _The DNA coding of these lizards is very complex. If I'm going to find an antidote, I'm gonna need a sample of the toxin from someone who's recently been infected. Think you can get me one?"_

"I think we can manage that." Kirk ran toward the first man he'd stunned, scanning his vitals with his tricorder. He repeated the process with another man. A woman. A man. Spock took out an empty hypo spray, extracting yellowish-red blood from an officer at his feet. With a click on his tricorder, the hypo spray vanished in a swirl of light.

"Transmitting samples now." Spock said, turning his attention to the burnt pieces of the destroyed infection-carrying drone. He scanned the debris.

McCoy reached out and clutched the hypo as it appeared on a micropad. Watching Kirk's scans scroll onto his screen, he said, _"I've got them."_

"Get me a cure, Bones."

The doctor plugged the hypo into the intake feed of a genetic analysis unit. _"I'm on it, Jim."_

 _Tat-Tat-Tat-Tat-Tat!_ A Gorn fired down from the top of the staircase. It disappeared suddenly. What?! Kirk strained his eyes.

"Where the hell did he go?"

"He appears to be using some sort of localized cloaking mechanism." Spock's face was a mix of confusion and fascination.

 _Now they can be invisible._ "No one told me they can do that." Catching sight of two red shirts taking aim, Kirk ran up the stairs toward them. Spock took out a drone, while Kirk subdued the two crewmen-turned-enemy combatants. _Now to find that lizard thing..._

More shots. Shattered glass. Seeing as they would need heavier fire power, Kirk retrieved a phaser rifle from a stunned man, directing his first officer to another one a few feet away.

More shots. Kirk sought shelter. "Scotty, I need eyes on this guy!"

 _Don't you think I want to as well? Just give me a moment to scan through the chaos,_ he thought. The engineer located a faint reading. _How on earth?_

 _"_ _I don't know how he's doing it, but his cloaking is_ very _sophisticated."_

The communicator couldn't automatically lower Kirk's tone enough. "I don't care _how_ it works. Just help me see him so I can shoot him." He fired back at the invisible space where he was being shot at.

The quarantine control consoles beeped loudly, indicating a foreign entity on the ship. _I know, I know!_

Spock looked through a hole in a toppled table. He eyed a control console on a wall. _Yes, that could work._ "Captain, the fire suppression systems in this room utilize an opaque gas. If we were able to activate the system -"

"-we'd be able to see his outline. Scotty, light this damn thing up!"

Scotty huffed out a breath as ACCESS DENIED flashed on his screen. _"The security lock out has shut down the systems. You'll have to enable the gas manually with your tricorders."_ The chief shook his head. _What good is a ship's security system if it locks out the people who secured it in the first place?_

"Never easy, is it Mister Scott?" Kirk grumbled. Spock shared his sentiments, replying first.

"It would appear that way, Captain." He and Kirk moved in opposite directions, activating the fire extinguishers remotely. White liquid briefly sprayed onto the upper deck.

Movement. Kirk could see the creature, obviously annoyed by the shower. Arms flailed. Kirk crouched behind a couch, putting his rifle on the top and firing forward at the lizard. From across the way, Spock shot toward the target at the rail. The Gorn returned a few rounds of projectiles before disappearing again. Repeating the procedure, the two commanding officers ran, setting off the suppressors one by one, forcing the invisible reptile to keep moving.

A flash of movement. "Spock, use that extinguisher!" The Vulcan triggered the suppressor, revealing the Gorn's form just beside him. He quickly backtracked and darted behind a post, shooting red beams into the creature's mass. Kirk pumped his legs hard, coming in on it, unleashing a crimson volley. After a few parting shots, it disappeared. Again, they activated suppressors, located, and shot at the Gorn.

Suffering from many superficial yet considerable wounds, the Gorn shook its head in confusion under another spray. It roared out at them in fury. Turning around, it shoulder-charged the turbolift doors. Left hook; right hook. The damaged doors dented, allowing the creature to reach in between them and pry them open. It leapt into the air and dropped down into the pitch black shaft.

Kirk moved to give chase, but was denied by Spock's arm. The Vulcan stepped in front of him, his expression neutral. "Captain, following the creature into the turbo lifts may not be the most ideal course of action."

Kirk squinted up at him, wiping a smear of extinguisher off his own cheek with the cuff of his sleeve."Do you have a better idea?"

The Vulcan thought for a moment. His face betrayed what Kirk already knew. "Not at the moment, sir."

Clicking open his communicator, Kirk turned to the one person who might be able to provide an answer. "Mister Scott, anything you can do to help level the playing field?"

The engineer's voice sounded back. _"If you can get me a scan of his blood, it's possible I could isolate his DNA signature. Then, your tricorder might be able to locate the scaly bastard."_

Spock slowly nodded his ascent. "Captain, it is possible that our efforts may have injured that creature. If we could locate a blood sample-"

Even as Spock said this, Kirk detected traces of Gorn blood on a wall. Running up the stairs, he called back, "Already ahead of you." He uploaded a scan to his tricorder, sending it on as it completed. "Blood sample coming your way, Mister Scott."

An exhale. _"I'll get right on it, sir."_ He ended the transmission.

Kirk had an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach. The creature was hiding somewhere. It could re-emerge, anytime, anywhere. A foreboding glancing up at the Vulcan. "This isn't going to go well, is it Spock?"

"While I tend to disagree with most of your observations, I fear that this time, you may be correct." Spock replied thoughtfully.

Kirk made his way down the stairs, around back, past some locked and open doors. Right toward the next lift, one floor below damaged one. "After you, Spock."

"No Captain, after you." He replied calmly. The two triggered the automatic doors, climbing into the dark shaft via the maintenance ladder. Placing his feet firmly on the ladder's sides, Kirk slid down several meters to the floor. The crisscrossing turbolift shafts were dimly lit at best.

"We've got him trapped!" Kirk called up the shaft to the descending Vulcan officer.

"Captain, have you considered the possibility that it is _we_ who are trapped in here with _him_? Spock's eyebrow arched upward.

So much for that. Kirk's tolerance for Spock's realistic view of the universe had all but evaporated. He crossed his arms, looking at him drop off the ladder. "You're not really a glass-half-full kinda guy, are you Spock?"

The Vulcan did not answer. Kirk shrugged it off, pacing forward. Seeing orangish blood on the floor he followed the streaks. Just as he reached to turn the corner of the shaft, a turbolift car shot past him. He could almost feel it brush past his face. He jerked backwards, ripping out his communicator. "Chekov, shut down the turbo lifts!"

 _"_ _Ayyyyeee...Working on it, Keptin!"_ The frantic navigator raced to disengage the internal transport systems, trying not to lock anyone inside.

Kirk ran down and across the way. "Here comes another one!" The glowing sphere flew past, preceded by a rattling hum. Kirk jumped into cover. Spock swiftly followed, moving to safety.

"We must time our movements."

As soon as it passed, he sprinted out and toward the next safe zone. He heard the familiar sound. "Quick, into the alcoves!" Each one took shelter in one of the recessed areas in the wall, where engineers could access circuit junctures. They repeated the procedure several times. Each time, one shouted to the other to warn of the incoming danger. Finally seeing the blood trail made a right turn, Kirk bolted after it down a clear shaft, lowering himself down another ladder at the end. As a lift whished by him, he hugged the ladder tightly to avoid being hit.

Spock eyed the lift zooming up out of sight. "Mister Chekov, may I stress the urgency of this request?"

 _"_ _Aye sir, just_ one _more minute."_ Chekov held up a finger, even though no one could see him. It didn't slow him down whatsoever.

Kirk jumped down onto a now deactivated turbolift, striding forward to the edge of the tunnel. Spock came up to just beside him, looking from side to side. The trail abruptly ended.

 _Drip._ Neither one noticed the fat whip-like tail dangling from the ceiling, or the massive creature it was attached to silently lowering down behind their heads.

 **...**

Kirk had a funny tingling feeling at the back of his head.

Like he was being watched. Turning around a slowly, his mouth gaped open as he saw the massive reptile. Spock noticed his captain and turned to face the imposing shadowy figure that breathed out heavily behind him.

It bellowed loudly into their faces. Reaching for their phasers was pointless; the creature's massive arm rammed into Kirk's chest, knocking the wind out of him. It thrust its other arm into Spock, sending him flying off to the side with a grunt. Taking the opportunity, it ran off up the hall, leaving more blood in its wake.

Dazed, the two men got to standing positions. Another loud noise caught their attention; the ever increasing rumble of an out-of-control, burning turbo lift greeted them. Without hesitation, the two threw themselves out of the way. The lift caught on the ceiling right where they had been seconds before, slamming to a halt.

There were two possible outcomes, only one of which Spock feared had happen. He listened but was met with awful silence. "Captain, are you alright?"

A cough. On the other side of the hulking mess, Kirk brushed himself off and shifted in his environmental suit, still tight on his body."I'm good, you?"

Relief eased the Vulcan's mind. "I am uninjured."

"Good, I'll meet you up ahead." Kirk shouted, trying to relocate the blood trail.

"Be careful Captain." Spock said, taking off to meet his commanding officer.

Kirk saw a flash of red at the shaft's end. Ducking into an alcove, he prepared to fire on the drone that sought him out. Whipping out, he fired. Once clear, he met back up with Spock and ran after the blood drops, though they were getting fewer and farther apart before disappearing all together.

"Where the hell did he go?" Kirk muttered. "Chekov, do you see anything?"

 _"_ _I am picking up movement..."_ He reconciled the motion sensor data with the unfamiliar biosignature's trajectory. His eyes settled on a large section nearby. _"Shuttlebay. He's headed toward the shuttle bay!"_ His breathing slowed as two more recognizable shapes began to trail the intruder's.

"The creature's best chance for survival would be to attempt an escape from this vessel."

 _After what he's done to my crew?_ "That's _not_ gonna happen. Lock everything down, Mister Scott! That creature doesn't leave this ship unless _I_ give it permission!"

 _"_ _Aye aye, sir!"_ The roguish voice responded.

Kirk and Spock saw three drones moving from behind alcoves toward them. Spock spotted two trigger explosives attached to the floor. Kirk let off a spray of phaser fire, destroying the mines and two of the drones. One exploded with considerable force, surprising Kirk. _Was it an explosive too?_ The last of the automatic weapons succumbed to being run over by the next passing lift. Seeing the hall was clear, Kirk ran between alcoves, dodging lifts and made a right on the shaft he knew led them toward the shuttle bay.

Like a replay, the next shaft had more mines and drones awaiting them. Kirk and Spock evaded laser fire long enough for the turbolift to zip by, destroying both. Shooting out the mines, the human captain and his Vulcan first took off down the shaft. Kirk had timed out the movement of the lifts; they had only about seven to eight seconds to move.

Kirk's gut clenched. Nowhere to run. No alcoves. Pumping his arms and legs as hard as he could, he darted with Spock for the only safe place they could find; the hall to the right. Panic bubbled in the depths of his chest. His heart kicked into overdrive.

A lift flew up and into their tunnel, barrelling down on the two desperate officers. Both raised their arms instinctively, bracing themselves for impact. Kirk closed his eyes, waiting for the end.

It came and went. A loud click. The whirring noise stopped. Opening his eyes, he saw the turbolift rotating harmlessly in place.

 _"_ _Got it!"_ The navigator shouted over the comm.

Spock released a soft sigh, obviously relieved. "Impeccable timing, Mister Chekov." The lift pulled back the way it came, dropping out of sight.

 _"_ _Thank you, sir."_ Chekov leaned back in his chair, relieved. The two officers sprinted into the functioning lift to the right and sped off.

Right toward shuttle bay.

 **...**

 _Stardate 2259.32_

 _USS Enterprise – Shuttlebay_

The Gorn Lieutenant stood over the main access console, working furiously away with the barest knowledge of Federation technology. With the technology it had, however, their strange system safeguards were no match. The small device could worm its way in almost anywhere and reverse the lockouts against its users.

Hearing the pneumatic swish of the doors just meters behind, it whipped its head around to see the persistent trackers had still not been deterred. Or eliminated.

Growling loudly with anger, the muscular Gorn jumped up onto the console, ran across the top and swung over the side of the railing, hanging over a long drop to the floor below. Landing with a thud on all fours, it took off, recharging his personalized cloak.

 **...**

 _"_ _Captain, he's locked us out of shuttle bay's systems, I can't do anything remotely."_ Scotty cried, bent over his computer console. Kirk and Spock sprinted out of the lift, noticing two downed crewmen stirring out of unconsciousness beside the now vacant controls.

 _"_ _What the hell is he trying to do in there?"_ Scotty mumbled under his breath. A system diagram lit up, causing the engineer's eyes to widen and heart to race. _"Captain, he powering up a shuttle. You kinna let him steal one of my shuttles!"_ His voice was just touching hysterical levels.

Calmly stepping onto the railed platform in front of him, Kirk awaited Spock's arrival while searching the bay with his eyes. _My shuttles?_ "Scotty?"

The response was calmer, after catching his breath. _"I mean, one of_ our _shuttles."_ Spock stepped onto the lift. Behind his heels, a safety rail lifted as the platform descended to the bottom floor. As it halted, Kirk immediately ran over a lowering rail. Spock spotted a glimmer of blue light on the floor ahead.

"More coming, Captain." He called instinctively. Kirk raised his rifle and took out the red device a second after it came off the floor. Boots clomped on the floor as the two men tore past stacks of boxes and rows of shuttles. Swooping in front of his first, Kirk moved around a black container.

A mistake. Two drones crisscrossed their lasers, burning Kirk's body. After moving back around to catch his breath, the blonde haired captain unleashed red beams of energy at the both drones, expertly targeting and eliminating them. Spock witnessed the event with awe.

"That was..." he searched for the right word, "unexpected."

Scotty's voice interrupted whatever response Kirk had. He sounded pleased. _"Good news, Captain! Blood analysis is complete and uploaded. Your tricorder should be able to help you find the wee bugger."_

"Good work, Mister Scott." Spock replied.

 _"_ _Wee"_ was hardly the word for the beast. It had at least a foot and a half on Kirk's height. Racing around another shuttle, Kirk's head wheeled from side to side. "Now where is he?" he murmured.

On top of a platform, the massive reptile hacked into the secure systems from a small square console. A red light started flashing simultaneously with a loud repeating alert siren. Kirk ran up to the foot of the stairs, taking shots at the disappearing Gorn.

Uhura's urgent response came quickly. _"He's hacking into our systems, we've lost all control of shuttle bay."_ Her eyes flickered as she watched what was happening; the bay doors in shuttle bay were beginning to open. _"One of you needs to get to the console to stop his hacks."_

Kirk slid behind the solid metal rail just before the console, remotely accessing the system. Spock scanned the creature, rendering the cloak temporarily useless. It had leapt high up onto a tall stack of crates using its powerful legs. Projectiles shot out from the creature's weapon, met by Spock's own fire. After several attempts, the Gorn recoiled and leapt down to the floor, throwing down another drone before vanishing again.

Kirk wasn't an expert hacker, but he picked up a few things back in his academy training. Having manually overridden the codes, Kirk wiped out the hack and stopped the doors from opening. Though the invisible force field protected them from being sucked out into the darkness, the crack between them revealed empty space.

 _"_ _Success, you have reversed his hack."_ Uhura smiled as the red warning signal shut off.

Kirk quickly destroyed a second drone impeding him from locating the Gorn. A third exploded near Spock, sending him reeling. Only for a moment. He wasn't badly hurt.

 _Exploding drones?_ Kirk knew he shouldn't be _that_ surprised at the Gorn's tactics by now. Sirens and red lights again went off. Across the room, the Gorn moved on to another console, resuming his attempt to escape.

 _"_ _He's hacking again. Location on your tricorder."_ Uhura alerted him as he turned on his heel, taking off after the creature. Again, the Gorn had taken the most logical position to attack from; atop another stack of boxes about twelve feet high.

"You reverse the hack, I'll get the lizard thing!" Kirk shouted after the Vulcan, scanning the Gorn with his tricorder before holstering it, yanking the rifle off his back.

"A sound plan." Even under pressure, Spock was still perfectly articulate. The thin post supporting the small square console did not provide any good protection while Spock stopped the launch sequence. Nearby, a shuttle sat ready, its engine roaring. Projectiles ricocheted off the floor and the support post. Spock resisted his instinct to run and kept his sole focus on the shuttle bay's systems. Darting to cover his first officer – his friend – Kirk brought up his rifle's shielding and deflected the fire of another drone and the Gorn attacker at the same time.

Spock entered the last three digits of his override code and shut his tricorder.

From the bridge, Uhura watched Spock complete the reversal. " _You did it, that should slow him down."_ Spock watched as Kirk deactivated the shield and fired several crimson beams into the drone, obliterating it.

"You are certainly skilled with weapons, Captain."

Almost ignoring the compliment, Kirk took off in pursuit of the runaway reptile. He halted in his tracks to shoot down another drone bearing down on him fast. Seeing his target up ahead, Kirk raised and squeezed the trigger.

Nothing. The rifle clicked, telling him his clip was out of energy. With no charging stations nearby, Kirk threw the rifle onto his back and removed the hand phaser from the hip of his belt. He fired red. Spock fired blue. Exhausted from running and bleeding profusely from many gaping wounds, the Gorn gasped lost control of its legs, falling forward and rolling over onto its back with a sigh.

Human and Vulcan walked cautiously toward the downed beast, hand phasers still in front of them. Somehow, the Gorn still lived.

"Why isn't he out?" He asked Spock, taking his eyes off the prone creature.

"These creatures have a unique anatomy. It appears he is incapable of movement, but for how long, I do not know." He squatted down next to its head. He suddenly considered the unique situation he was in.

 _Nothing worse than an unpredictable enemy; like a wounded bear._ "Ah, great." Kirk turned and stepped away, wiping his brow with a forearm. His first officer had not yet stood up. Looking back, he noticed the Vulcan holding his hands tentatively over the creature's head.

 _Is he nuts?_ "A mindmeld? Are you kidding?!" Kirk's face scrunched with disbelief.

Spock's hands stopped midair. "Lieutenant Uhura was only able to decipher a small portion of their language. A mindmeld is our only option." Spock answered, completely sure this was the correct action.

Conceding defeat, Kirk shrugged and squatted down beside his first officer, placing both hands on the Gorn's chest. Seeing Spock's confusion, he added, "In case he snaps out of it." Secretly, he was curious.

Spock thought for a moment before closing his eyes, shrugging. He moved his hands down slowly back toward the reptilian face.

Kirk did a double take. One of the creature's feet moved. "Something's happening, Spock." It was too late. The Vulcan was already clearing his mind of thoughts, opening it up to connect with the Gorn's. With his hands placed firmly on the head and face of the intruder, he began slipping slowly into the Gorn's thoughts, allowing himself to literally see what it had seen. Sense what it had sensed.

Kirk felt his vision disappear. His mind felt light and free.

 **...**

Kirk felt as if he was in a dream.

In the blackness, a single, distant pinpoint of bright light. He, Spock and the Gorn were all one mind.

 _"_ _I am attempting to access this Gorn's memory..."_ Spock's voice seemed to echo, as if far away down a long corridor.

 _"_ _I know, it's not my first mindmeld Spock..."_ Kirk's voice echoed as well. Ironically, his _first_ mindmeld had _also_ been with Spock – the older one– in a dark lonely cave on the desolate, icy planet Delta Vega.

Their vision moved closer tithe light, like a truck toward the end of a tunnel.

A sea of stars. Meteors. A brownish planet. Spock began to narrate what they were seeing.

 _"_ _They conquered their galaxy...crushing every planet they encountered..."_

A massive Gorn vessel dropped out of warp beside the planet. Smaller ones. Tethers. Waves of yellow energy came out from the lead ship, over and over, faster and faster. Around the other side of the planet, it seemed to be lit on fire. The loud, low whining noise of the ships faded as they withdrew from the incredible sight.

A galaxy, red and white. A flash of light. More. Every planet, one by one was vanquished.

 **...**

Kirk said nothing, still in shock. Spock pulled through the blackness toward another light.

Moving back in on the planet. The ships moved closer. Closer. Strange guttural sounds, screeches mixed with the ship noises. The light reflecting off the planet became brighter. Blinding. White filled the whole view.

Winged ships. Massive ships. Flying through the mountains. Shots rained down from the sky, destroying crude stone building and structures.

 _"_ _They killed all those who resisted...and enslaved the rest..."_ Spock's voice echoed, the faintest din of horror tainting it. Or despair. Sympathy.

A yellow ball of fire blasted toward a bridge, destroying the arch. Buildings exploded under a barrage of weapons fire.

Movement. Several warriors scrambled to avoid the explosions, their gait similar to that of monkeys. Down into a large, winding stone staircase lit by lanterns. Blue armoured Gorn beamed in at the foot, raising their guns and massacring the lanky weaker foes as they ran away. Outside, ships choked the skies, continuing their reign of destruction; some of them descended to the ground.

The city was in ruins. Spock pulled back out of the scene.

 **...**

 _"_ _The threat was contained...until the rip..."_

Beside the planet, the _other_ end of the massive passageway outside New Vulcan's orbit appeared suddenly. The large ship just beside the planet flew toward the rip. Through the tunnel of red and white energy.

New Vulcan. The binary stars. The Gorn ship floated idly in the space between, moving closer to the Vulcan colony world. Spock pushed on. Kirk got an uneasy feeling.

As if right inside the Gorn's head, two scaly hands were directly in front of them, holding a weapon. They heard feet stalking slowly outside the door. Other Gorn, also armed, prepared to breach the Great Hall.

 _"_ _This is what happened...to New Vulcan..."_ Spock's voice was empty, toneless, calm.

The doors slid open. Several Vulcans filled the room. Reacting quickly, some raised their pulse cannons to defend themselves. With precision, the Gorn took them down, sending them flying across the deck. Within seconds, several were down. More Gorn had those who remained upright surrounded as they took cover.

Blinding light. Another vision. A vertical black tubing separated, revealing the Helios device in a beam of energy. Loud breathing. To the right, two figures burst through the door.

With a start, Kirk realized it was him at the door. And Spock. Turning back to the device, the Gorn leapt, grabbed the machine, and pounced on a console. Pointing a claw at the two Starfleet officers, it bellowed an order at several underlings entering the room behind them.

 _"_ _Kill them!"_

 **...**

Blackness. A light. Spock focused his mind moving toward it. Through the whole vision, Kirk remained silent.

A room lit by firelight. A platform tilted upwards, revealing a man strapped to it. His clothes were torn and bloody. Restraints held his arms and legs. As the drone moved away from his face, he raised his head.

 _Surok._ A claw reached out, grabbing his neck. Wide-eyed and shaking, the Vulcan elder uttered a few words weakly.

"I don't know anything about the machine...my daughter – ugh!" The hand squeezed tighter. His terrified gaze shifted to the side. The hideous, gigantic horned Gorn they'd seen earlier stood, conversing with the one whose head Spock and Kirk shared a perspective with. Both could suddenly understand their guttural, growling vocalization.

 _"_ _Find the girl."_ The giant snarled, pointing a finger at his underling.

 _"_ _What do we do with this one?"_

The giant stopped in his tracks, turning to look back at the helpless Vulcan and then the other Gorn. His small round eyes seemed to be on fire. " _He no longer has any use."_

Surok once again filled the Gorn's vision, staring in horror at a claw opening above him. The mechanical arm that held it responded to a button push, opening the claw and moving toward the imperilled Vulcan. The pointed three prongs closed on his face.

"Ugh...ahh...guhh!" Surok struggled for freedom as the view panned down and away from him.


	11. Chapter 11

**...**

 _Chapter 9_

 _Stardate 2259.32_

 _USS Enterprise – Shuttle Bay_

Kirk's eyes snapped open, gasping as Spock retracted his hands from the Gorn's face. Like a horrible nightmare.

Kirk could still see every detail. He blinked a couple of times, trying to burn out the images of the genocide from his mind. The vivid sights made him feel as if he was responsible.

 _It was all so real..._ His eyes fought back the liquid that filled them. He stood up on shaky legs, sucked in a breath and regained his composure. Pain turned to anger. "Take the thing to the brig. I want 24-hour security. This thing doesn't _eat_ unless I know about it."

Two security personnel knelt down, grabbing the creature's legs. One officer responded, "Aye sir." They left the room, dragging the scaly beast away, streaking the puddle of yellow blood behind it.

Kirk turned back to Spock, who was still kneeling on the floor. The anger drained from Kirk's face. Instead, his features displayed sadness. Sympathy. He reached out a hand, resting it on the Vulcan's shoulder."I'm sorry."

Spock's eyes remained downcast, filled with pain, bewilderment, loss. His response came off weakly. "The regret is not for myself. This is a great loss for the Vulcan people." _And T'Mar._ The kneeling officer's mind swirled with thoughts of regret, thoughts of pain. Surok was his mentor and friend. Suddenly, something flashed in his eyes. A look of anger, determination.

"We should seek to limit such losses." The first officer held his Captain's gaze, breathing erratically. His voice was low and bitter.

At least he was talking. Kirk decided to be honest with the Vulcan about the implications of what they had just observed. "If they tortured and killed Surok for that information, they'll do the same to T'Mar." His words hung in the air for a few seconds.

"I am afraid you are correct, Captain." He walked on past Kirk, only to be halted by a gentle hand on his shoulder.

Kirk's face was again one of understanding and sympathy. "How do you want to handle this one?"

Without looking over, Spock explained. "Our mission could not be more clear. We must go through the rip and recover the Helios machine." Again he tried to leave.

"And T'Mar?" Kirk's question stopped the Vulcan in his tracks.

He sighed. "I suppose we will just have to save her as well." Placing his hands behind his back, he strode away.

A slight smile formed on Kirk's face as he followed. "You read my mind, commander. And you didn't even have to do that 'voodoo' mindmeld thing with my face." He waved his hands near his head, the typical human sign for craziness.

Kirk unholstered his communicator. "Kirk to bridge. Sulu?"

At his station, the helmsman clicked his comm open. _"Sulu here, sir. Red alert's been cancelled. Did you catch the intruder?"_

"We did, Mister Sulu. You can tell Mister Chekov I don't hold him responsible by the way." As Kirk said it, Sulu shot Chekov a confused look. The Russian turned red and looked guilty. _How did he know I vas there?_

 _"_ _Uh...thank you, Keptin. I'm wery, wery sorry. I should have been more careful."_ He said, leaning closer to the communicator.

"It's okay, Chekov. Sulu, set new course, back towards the rip. We're going in after them." Kirk's face hardened with firm resolve. He had made up his mind, and now no one could change it.

Sulu didn't want to. _"Aye aye, sir. What about back up?"_

"No time. We've got hours to get that device, and T'Mar back. Besides, if I can help it, I don't want anyone else exposed to those things."

 _"_ _They got T'Mar too?"_

"That's what I said, Lieutenant."

 _"_ _Setting new course...now."_ Chekov and Sulu worked in tandem with the _Enterprise_ 's flight control and navigation. _"Course plotted, sir."_ Sulu said curtly as he punched in the final coordinates.

"Punch it, maximum warp!" Kirk said, flipping the comm closed and joining in the turbolift. He swore even with inertial dampeners on, he could feel the ship jump into hyperspace.

 **...**

 _Stardate 2259.32_

 _Unknown location_

A cold chill caused T'Mar to shiver.

 _Where am I?_ She couldn't open her eyes, but she could hear distant voices of various Gorn, beeping equipment and rumbling engines.

Her entire body ached with pain. How long had she been here? Struggling, she tried to move her legs. Her arms. Neither could shift more than an inch or two. The feeling of restraints binding her wrists and ankles ruled out paralysis in her mind. _To prevent escape... I do not believe I have the strength to try._ She licked her dry lips and concentrated on modulating her respiration. _Calm...you are alive...others will come for you._ The likelihood of that happening was slim. Most certainly, based on the awful smell, she was no longer in the Starbase. A Gorn vessel, or station perhaps...

 _T'Mar..._

A voice whispered from the shadows. A familiar voice. She attempted to lift her head, to speak, but no sound came. _Father?_ She thought.

 _T'Mar...I have...little time..._

T'Mar's throat caught. Somehow, her father had attained the rare Vulcan ability to meld without physical contact. _Where are you?_

 _I am...in an unknown...location..._

 _What did you mean, "little time?"_

 _I am...dying..._

No! Her face contorted, her mind racing. _Are you close? I can assist you. I believe I can break free-_

 _It is too late...I have incurred mortal wounds. Losing blood..._

 _Hang on!_ T'Mar suffered to hear the voice of her pained father growing weaker. _Oh, Father! It is my fault. I assisted the commodore, I facilitated the creation of the rip! Our people-_

 _You are not to blame...you didn't know...Daniels is...to blame for this..._

 _I have failed you, father...failed Savan..._

 _You never...have!_ Silence interrupted the emotional exchange of thoughts. Surok purged his mind of the burning pain in his stomach and neck. _T'Mar...I am proud of you...always...will be..._

Tears threatened. T'Mar fought as hard as she could to maintain her composure. She failed. _Why? After all that has happened..._

 _After all that has happened...I love you, daughter..._ His thoughts became broken with pain, but not just from the torture. _Savan loved you, and your sister –ugh!_

 _Father?_

Silence. _You dedicated your life to us, to the Vulcan people...no matter what happens...I will always be proud...of you, T'Mar..._

Tears streaked down her face. _I am feeling...crying like a child..._

 _It's okay, T'Mar...okay to cry...don't mourn for me...you need to live...I want...you to live..._

 _I want to help you, but I can't!_ Emotions flooded her mind.

 _You have...every day after we lost your mother...you saved me..._

 _From what?_

 _From myself...my hurt...my grief...my pain..._

 _It is what you would have done for me, father..._

 _I will always love you...always, my child..._ His voice cut off, leaving a silence in her mind.

 _Father? FATHER?_ Nothing. Horrible silence. A dark void.

In that moment, the walls that she had put around herself came down. No amount of Vulcan mind-to-mind contact, no therapy, no comfort could stop the wave of emotional distress that rocked T'Mar to the core. She now had lost _both_ parents. This time, it was her fault.

A sob escaped her lips. Turning her head to the side, her energy gave out. Heaving on the slab she was on, she let her mind go, grasping for the memories of her family. When it was whole.

Now, it was all gone. She had failed her people, her civilization, and her father.

 **...**

 _Stardate 2259.32_

 _USS Enterprise – Bridge_

 _"_ _Communications log, supplemental. I've been able to break down the alien syntax enough to decipher a basic lexicon. What I've found is troubling. Even in exchanges between members of the species themselves, every word, every sentence, every intonation is highly aggressive. Obviously we can only analyse small fragments of their speech we've been able to capture so far...but I doubt their language has anything approaching a word for peace."_

Uhura let the log recording program linger for a few seconds before shutting it off. Her speculation was far from improbable; it was often the case that if a culture had little or no experience or frame of reference for a concept, it would be entirely absent from their language. Earth missionaries of the past had made special note, for instance, of the fact that prior to their making contact with an isolated tribe, those people had no word in their vocabulary for "unconditional love".

She brushed a loose strand of hair off her face and sat back in her chair. Based on what she had heard, there was clearly no love lost between the Gorn, unconditional or not. _How do you reason with somebody who has no heart?_

You don't. She was seriously considering the disturbing possibility that there was no way to speak with them. They were already capable of killing without feeling, destroying without any care. Spock had already pointed out that they used their own officers as merely a means to an end. A debris field of their own ships was part of the reason the large Gorn ship had escaped in the first place.

She took a sip of her tea, letting the fragrance permeate her senses. It calmed her, but only briefly.

One thing was for certain; after experiencing the Gorn's brutality first-hand, Dr. McCoy would never be able to criticise Spock quite the same way he had before about his "lack of feeling." She knew he cared deeply for her. She also knew this attack on the colony had hurt him more than she could know.

Taking a look behind her, she saw Chekov and Sulu busy with the instrumentation, working together to make minute course corrections. Her eyes held on the brilliant blue and white streaks of the warp field outside the viewscreen, indicating they were moving faster than light. Around her, she saw other familiar faces; Slater to her right, Cruz, Richards, and Brown at their various stations.

Her comm chimed, prompting her to turn back around and pick up. "Lieutenant Uhura here. What is it?"

Spock's voice answered. _"Nyota – Lieutenant, please report to sickbay. Captain Kirk and myself will meet you, Mister Scott and Dr. McCoy there."_

"I'll be right there, sir – Spock? Can I ask a personal question?"

Spock's voice lowered slightly in volume. _"What is it, Nyota?"_

"How are you holding out?"

 _"_ _I am all right. Thank you for asking. Spock out."_

 _Still not ready for that yet._ Once this was over, he would be. Uhura was sure of it. Pushing back in her chair, she strode off toward the turbolift.

 **...**

 _Stardate 2259.32_

 _Unknown Location_

 _"_ _There's still a chance. I can still get out of here alive. I'm too valuable not to. I just have to convince these creatures of that. They're obviously not stupid."_

The creatures had all that technology. They flew ships, led a coordinated attack on his base. Surely they could see he had some use. Maybe he could convince them he needed the others. _Anything_ to get out of this place, away from the disturbing sharp tools and the teeth.

 _"_ _If only I had been more patient with T'Mar's tests."_

He knew she was right. He was wrong. If he had just let them go, the Vulcans, the base, and everything would be alright. If only this never happened...

 _"_ _There's no way Starfleet will be able to hold off a full scale invasion."_

How many more deaths would be added to this massacre? Daniels shook his head. As he tried to continue his log recording, a large armoured Gorn entered. The alarmed commodore staggered back, clutching the comm. A floating object with mechanical arms came in after. Outside the room, more Gorn. They eyed him curiously. Daniels' heart rate was now beyond what he'd ever felt running down the streets of San Francisco what seemed like a lifetime ago.

 _"_ _What! What are you doing? No! I CAN HELP YOU!"_

It was useless. The Gorn restrained him, dragging the damaged, injured man kicking and screaming from the room. He fought and fought, every thrust and punch draining more energy. Punch, jerk, breath. Kick, lunge, thrash, gasp. A sharp object caught his eye, making him push back with all his might on his abductors.

 _"_ _NO! DON"T! NOOOOOO!"_

 **...**

 _Stardate 2259.32_

 _USS Enterprise – Medbay_

Scotty, Kirk and Spock crowded around the engineer's PADD . He seemed quite animated as he showed off his findings. Behind them, Lieutenant Uhura came in to join the officers.

"Well, Captain," Scotty said, "Being the quick thinkin' man every engineer need to be, I've taken all your scans, done plenty of research, and compiled it all for your easy reading. Don't do it, mind you, right before bed, otherwise it'll take more than a warm cuppa milk to settle your nerves. Some of this is creepy stuff, and I have a feeling it'll only get worse."

Spock shared a look with Uhura, and then glanced at the screen. "Excellent work, Mister Scott. This dossier you have constructed will prove highly advantageous. May I ask that you forward any scientific data to the labs?"

"Already done, sir." Scotty nodded proudly. "Dossier! That's the word I've been looking for."

Kirk grabbed the PADD, scrolling quickly through it. "So, what have you found?" He tugged at the hem of his fresh golden-yellow command uniform. It felt good to be out of the tight environmental suits. Spock donned his blue science uniform.

"Oh, loads of information. Some I don't care about, some I find fascinating. You'll have to wait a moment though, Doctor McCoy needs to be here. After all, he helped me with some parts."

 _What did he say?_ The Captain's eyes widened as he took in the information. He never imagined that he'd hear what the engineer had just confirmed. Montgomery Scott and Leonard McCoy were working _together_ on something. It wasn't that they hated each other, but they definitely had very different approaches to work, very different opinions of sickbay. " _You and the doctor working together?"_

"If you'd told me before this happened, I wouldna believed you. But alas..."The Scot trailed off as McCoy strode forward, wiping his hands on a towel.

"Hi, Jim. Spock, Uhura." He nodded to each. "As he was saying before, the Gorn are strange things. We've got tech, weapons, and biological data that'll blow your mind. For instance, take what we found with those guns-"

Kirk put up a hand. "Listen, I am really glad you put in all this work, and I'll be more than happy to read it all, file it in my official report, _and_ give you commendations once we're all done with this, but please, we don't have much time before we reach the rip. Can I have a condensed version, on say, the Gorn themselves?"

"All right, that's Scotty's territory, mostly. If you want more physiological and biological data, I'll be over here." McCoy gestured, moving off to the side to see to another doctor.

"Scotty?" Kirk put his hands out.

"Ah, yes. Well, here we have the beasties you've seen." He brought up rough scans of the creatures, pointing them out. "Since we don't have better scientific names for these guys, I've taken some creative licence and named them myself."

Scotty brought up the first one the Kirk referred to as a wiry. "I call these "Initiates." Based on their smaller brain size than the others, I would guess these guys are of lower intelligence, and are sort of like foot soldiers."

Kirk nodded, a look of seriousness observing the most familiar type of Gorn. "Saw a lot of those guys down on New Vulcan and on the station."

"I thought you would. With these guy's little brains, you might say," he glanced down at his description, reading it verbatim. "The kind way to say it: 'a bit slower on the uptake'. The more accurate way to say it would be 'cannon fodder.'" Scotty said, trying to suppress a smile.

"What else?" Kirk asked.

"Well, to not drone on forever, _these_ beasties are enforcers. They have a higher metabolic rate, an upright stance and bigger brain. If I had to guess, this one would be in charge of the initiates." He pointed to the outline of the bulky blue, armoured reptile. Kirk again nodded.

"Like a platoon leader." Uhura interjected.

"Exactly, lassie." Scotty flipped over the display. " _This_ is a Gorn tech," he pointed out the slender blue Gorn's outline, "which has a bigger brain, which I think makes them better served with technical stuff than fighting, hence the name. Sorta like me." He paused, swallowing."They're much like these ones here," he scrolled to the red slender Gorn, "only I call these Gorn observers."

"Why 'observers'?" Spock asked, curiously.

"Because the buggers are always lurking around, watching ye, peeking 'round corners! Can you think of a better name?" Scotty exclaimed with slight exasperation.

McCoy returned, hastily placing a hand on Scott's shoulder. "Calm down, man. Don't you go crazy on me." His glance shifted to the Captain's. "Both these slender ones here? They're female. That much I _do_ know."

Spock arched a brow. "Fascinating." Uhura's brows rose as well, equally curious. Given their unique biology to the male Gorn, not to mention their shapeliness. It was unusual to see such distinct gender characteristics in reptiles, but not unbelievable. Scott didn't seem to care much, so long as he got through his descriptions and facts.

"These creepy little buggers that jumped you and Spock I call 'rushers', for obvious reasons. I kinna understand it, but for some reason they're different from the other Gorn. If all the Gorn types are in a family tree of sorts, they'd be an outlier."

Spock gave the image and corresponding information a closer look. His eyes widened slightly, but only as an indication of his interest and not his shock. "A most strange genetic variation. The chances of something like this occurring naturally are extremely low."

Precisely the kind of mystery the communications officer found fascinating and eerily strange as well. Uhura tilted her head to the side. "What about the one we've got in the brig? He's different than the others, I'm sure."

"A warrior. Slightly bigger brain, more developed musculature, more aggressive, and he _was_ charged with stealing the Helios device. That plus all that armour he's got? Definitely a warrior." Scott moved his face to point directly at Uhura. "And yes, they are unique as well. In fact, they all are. No two types bear much of any strong genetic resemblance."

"One more, Scotty. This one" Kirk looked at the outline of the deceased Gorn that had almost killed him and Spock. _That awful breath..._ "He shoulder charged through solid pillars, took barrages of fire without even _reacting_."

"Indeed, he was remarkably strong, and much larger than most of the other creatures we have encountered." Spock added, looking at Scotty and then Uhura.

"Aye, nasty one, this. He's a brute. While he does appear too stupid to use standard Gorn weaponry, he only needs his muscles to kill things. I picked up signs of toxic stimulants coursing through his veins." Scotty made a face. So did the Doctor, for that matter.

"So it was _high_ on performance enhancing drugs?" Uhura posited, putting out a loose hand toward the display.

Kirk grimaced. "Makes sense." he added, remembering how savage and relentlessly it fought.

Scotty closed the tab, then opened another. "I've also taken note that you've seen these guys with certain weapons, which I've also named _very_ appropriately."

Kirk was almost amused in anticipation of his chief's _interesting_ names for Gorn armaments. As the situation was growing complicated and the danger level was increasing, he did not respond with anything but seriousness and professionalism.

"Go on."

"First, the initiates carry something I call a 'ravager'. Fully automatic plasma shots and knockdown stun capabilities. Next, the enforcer class of weapon: the 'maurader.' Fires semi-automatic spread shot and a knock down flash bang grenade. A brutal shotgun-like weapon. Absolutely nasty thing." He swiped a finger, revealing a long barrelled weapon with a diagonally angled handle. "This is a 'railer,' used by the Gorn techs. High-powered charge shot that requires pinpoint accuracy. This bloody thing can also beam in drones!"

Kirk, Spock and Uhura's faces became gradually more serious and concerned. Spock added, "The railer's fire can penetrate walls and injure multiple people at the same time."

Scotty's eyes were now wide with worry. "Yeah, these Gorn aren't just simple brutes, they are smart. They have the intelligence to build weapons to rival Starfleet's own!" Breathing in slowly and deeply, he continued. "Plasma grenade. I've looked at this thing from all sides; it's for carnage only. It can stick to _any_ surface, an interesting quality, but that means trouble. Rip it off right quick and throw it back1"

Kirk placed a hand on Scotty's shoulder. "Calm down, Mister Scott. We're not in a fire fight now."

"Well, the last weapon came off that bloody bugger that ran amok around shuttle bay. A 'pillager,'I call it." His brows drew together in serious thought.

" _This_ one is markedly different from the others." He tapped the screen. "It fires fully automatic projectiles, and its secondary fire is just a spread shot."

Uhura leaned forward. "All their other weapons are plasma-based. I thought they'd have moved beyond bullets."

"They have. Though used by Gorn warriors, I believe this weapon is _not_ Gorn in origin."

 _Not Gorn?_ "So what, they stole it? Or should I say, 'pillaged' it?" Kirk crossed his arms.

McCoy found a moment to speak up. "The other weapons you scanned, the tech, all of it had its own unique qualities, metals and biological components. These are the odd ones out. They're ballistic."

Spock held up a hand. "Biological components? Explain, doctor."

"At first I thought it was contamination, but I was wrong. It seems these guys have found a way to grow their own weapons. Rhubarb, radishes, railers; can you find the odd one out?"

A head shake. "So...these are alive?"

"No, Uhura, not in the typical sense. But, I believe they can be produced with the aid of Gorn scientists. We also found out that these weapons are dangerous to handle with bare hands." McCoy eyed Kirk and Spock. "They may carry any number of viruses, including the one I'm fighting now, and they could also do a number on your bodily systems. I just don't have time to study the effects of longer term use."

"Indeed, Doctor." Spock said, closing his eyes for a moment. "Though I believe full biohazard containment gear would be counterproductive to our mission. Manoeuvrability would be inhibited."

"Now, why do you always have to take everything I say to the extreme? All I'm trying to tell you is be careful. Touch these biotech nightmares as little as possible." He covered his face with one hand. "Can you promise me _that_ much, Jim?"

"Promise, yes. Keeping that promise remains to be seen. We might have no choice."

Scotty poked his head in between them. "If you don't mind me saying, sir, the doctor's right. Stick to Starfleet issue arms, and you kinna go wrong. But, if you do find some, bring me back some more samples. I'd love to examine these things, as terrible as they are."

McCoy interrupted whatever Kirk was going to say. "If you do that, they're all going straight to quarantine. These are not just weapons, they're organisms, in a way."

" _Here's_ one more bit about them: those Gorn have none of the stun capabilities we do. With the beasties, it's either blow it away, or don't shoot at all. No in between option."

Uhura shook her head in disgust. "None of the other war like races we've encountered have gone to these lengths. From what I found with my language analysis of them, this all lines up. They're an aggressive race, to the extreme. Even when conversing with each other, they're violent."

Kirk's head soaked up the information, but it hurt. This was all too much at once. On the good side, at least he had a way to identify these Gorn now. Pinching the bridge of his nose, he sighed. "Listen, this is really great. The information you've compiled helps will give us an edge out there." He strode to a nearby replicator to get a drink.

Southern doctor and Highland engineer both said "Thank you." In unison. Both shared a look.

Kirk's look became serious. "Bones...how are the injured doing? The Gorn was _in_ officer's quarters, shuttle bay the halls..." His voice trailed off, awaiting the doctor's grim prognosis. There were likely several dead, he was sure of it.

"I know, I know. That damn thing was even running around the turbo lifts. Just glad he didn't get in here." McCoy offered a chuckle.

"Bones! The patients! My _crew!"_ Others shared Kirk's worried facial expression.

"Countless injured and maimed, but I'm happy to say that we have zero dead." The CMO nodded sharply.

 _None?_ Kirk didn't know whether to be thrilled or stunned. "How? I mean, that's great, but how did you manage it?"

Spock raised an eyebrow. "Doctor, there were several individuals infected with the Gorn virus inflicting wounds on the non-infected. Some crewmen were shot-"

"Now listen, Spock. When I say they're alive, I mean it. I give all the credit to my great staff, and the patients themselves. All tough as nails. The most severe injuries are in induced coma, under quarantine or out of surgery. All _will_ live, trust me. It seems that even with the virus, its early stage seems to make the crew ill, not render them dead." He wiped his brow with a sleeve and continued. "The infected can't be reasoned with very well, so they're staying in coma until I find a cure."

 _All alive._ Kirk wanted to hug his Doctor, and jump up for joy. The faces of Uhura, Scotty, and even Spock showed they too were most relieved and pleased their fellow crewmen were okay. Noticing the med bay's wall communicator go off, Spock cut in front of McCoy before he could activate it and did so himself. "Go ahead, bridge." McCoy frowned and said nothing.

 _"_ _Sulu here. Sir, we're approaching the rip, should be there in two minutes."_

Kirk straightened up. He approached the wall. "We'll be right there, Sulu." He clicked the comm off, turning to Spock as he hurried away. "Come on, Spock. If we hurry, we can just about make it." Spock hesitated, prompting Kirk to add, "Don't tell me you're not dying to see what that thing looks like from the inside? You're chief Science officer."

"I must confess some fascination, Captain." He took off after Kirk.

"There's the Spock we all know and love!" Kirk clapped him on the back. _Sorta, on both accounts._ Kirk was getting to really like his first officer.

Uhura smiled and followed. "Come on, doctor. Even you must be curious."

McCoy sighed, breaking into a jog behind Uhura, who also hurried along out of sickbay to the turbolift. "Here we go again. Jim, you _know_ I have a bad feeling about this."

"You usually do, Bones." He pointed back toward his chief engineer. "Mister Scott, get down to engineering! We need a lot of juice to get through that rip!"

"Aye sir! I'll be right there." He took off past some doctors. _Juice, ye say? Perhaps I oughta head to the mess hall instead, eh?_ He chuckled softly to himself.

 **...**

 _Stardate 2259.33_

 _USS Enterprise – Bridge_

"Keptin on the bridge!" Chekov exclaimed, watching Kirk and three other officers file out of the lift. Sulu eased the _Enterprise_ 's speed down to impulse power. Outside the viewscreen, the blur of blue and white became a sea of stars. As the ship moved right, the massive pink, orange and white streaks with black clouds all pointed into the golden spherical light at its center came into full view.

Uhura chimed in. "Captain, we've moved as many Starbase evacuees and deceased onto New Vulcan as we could. The rest that made it to escape pods and shuttles back on the base are en route to the colony. They'll receive the best of Vulcan medical care until the _USS Intrepid_ or _Constitution_ arrive."

"Great. Sulu, status?"

"Moving toward the center, sir." Sulu said, considering his readings, then looking at the viewscreen data overlay. Diagrams and projections of the energy patterns, contraction rates and radiation levels were in a state of flux. Several bridge officers worked to stabilize the ship and compensate for the changes in atmosphere and particle exposure.

"All right, Sulu. Keep the engine running." Sitting down in his chair, he switched on the intra-ship communications. Around the _Enterprise_ , people stopped at the sound of a whistle alerting them of an announcement.

"Attention _Enterprise_ crew. This is your Captain speaking. Approximately two hours ago, the colony of New Vulcan was attacked, resulting in the destruction of the Helios Station and severe damage to the colony itself. Several Vulcan citizens were killed, and hundreds were injured and infected with a virus. In addition, several Starfleet officers were also killed and or infected with the same life-threatening disease in the subsequent attack on Frontier Starbase. As we know, the Gorn are a violent, militant race that have, in their possession, a very powerful weapon, the Helios device, and two Vulcan scientists, Surok and T'Mar. It is the decision of the senior staff that we enter the singularity the Helios device has created with the intention of retrieving both them, and the device. It could be dangerous, and we have a limited amount of time in which to act. I cannot express the importance of this mission: to us, and to the Vulcans. All I ask is that you trust me, and that you continue to perform to the best of your abilities. Kirk out." Flipping off the comm, he leaned back in his chair, crossing a leg over the other.

"Shields up, Mister Chekov." Kirk said, pointing at his navigator. "Bring us to yellow alert."

"Aye, sir. Shields up," the Russian replied enthusiastically.

"Yellow alert on," another officer called out.

At the communications station, Uhura tapped the comms. "Attention, Enterprise crew. We're about to have a turbulent ride, please take the time to secure yourself and any loose articles or components." To make sure the message got through, she repeated it.

"Might want to brace yourself, Bones. Hold onto your stomach." Tapping his chair arm, seat belts ejected from over Kirk's shoulders and crossed over his torso in an "X". The other crewmen and –women quickly followed suit.

McCoy looked down to find his hand already on his abdomen. Settling into an empty chair, he engaged the belts, tugging on them where they met.

"All systems online, and functionality confirmations in from all decks. We are ready, sir." Spock turned in his chair to face the Captain.

"Mister Sulu..." Kirk paused, adjusting in his chair. "Take us in."

Inhaling sharply, Sulu clutched the handle on his Conn, shoving it forward. Gradually, the image in front of the screen stretched out of shape. At the screen's top, the warp factor counter climbed up to maximum.

Outside, the _Enterprise_ disappeared in a blink of light.

 **...**

 _VOOOOM!_

On the bridge, a muffled sound indicated they had entered warp again. Within a second, the familiar colours outside the window turned to bright pinkish-orange streaks. The red alert klaxons automatically sounded, triggering a flashing red light to illuminate the bridge. The ship's hull began to vibrate, the turbulence becoming more and more severe as they travelled deeper into the anomaly. On all decks, objects were jarred loose and people not strapped in were sent toppling to the floor. Artificial gravity kept objects from becoming flying projectiles and crewmen from being tossed about too badly. Slightly put off but still at their posts, they tried to steady themselves using fixed bars and anything that refused to rattle.

The sound of the engines was an ever increasing straining whine in Mister Scott's ears. All the engineering crew grappled with hand rails and support beams as feet slid along the floor. The chief engineer's mind raced as fast as he could. Running back and forth with Keenser, he tried to keep tabs on the multiple alerts and system breaches and near complete failures.

From where Sulu was seated at the helm, everything was in a state of chaos. His hands moved back and forth, frantically adjusting and readjusting the course heading to keep the ship from veering into the wall of the vortex. All eyes around the room were pulled between computer readouts and the brilliant light show illuminating the bridge. Clenching his jaw, he focused intently on his task; maintaining a level flight path. With each passing second, that exact task became harder to do.

"Having a hard time keeping her steady!" Employing both hands, the helmsman struggled to keep the ship on course. The loud reverberation off the hull made it too loud to communicate at a normal volume.

Three more flashing red lights on the warp core monitor made Scotty cringe. Tightening his fists, he banged the wall pickup and shouted over the loud noise of the stretching, shaking vessel.

 _"_ _She kinna take any more of this Captain!"_

"I know, Scotty. Just try to hang on a little longer." Kirk leaned forward, clutching the arm rests. He watched the screen absorbedly.

Scott's voice came back over the comm quickly, obviously strained. _"It's taking everything I've got to keep the ship from ripping apart!"_

The noise got louder. Hearts raced and eyes shot around the bridge, looking for the first crack in the ceiling that hadn't come yet. Spock's lips pursed tightly. McCoy pleaded quietly for a safe arrival, looking upward. Uhura jolted to the side as her ear piece skidded across her station and onto the floor. As the ship tilted left, all hands leaned over, using all their strength to keep stable.

Again the engineer's voice sounded, more worried than before. _"Hate to be such a bother, sir, but how much longer?"_

Seeing a patch of darkness ahead, Kirk nodded. "Not too much longer, Scotty."

"Keptin, we're closing fast on the edge of the anomaly! I still can't read anything, but I _can_ see a large drop off in energy output."

Sulu followed the Chekov's comment immediately, his intonation obviously on edge. "Dropping from warp in 5...4...3...2...1..."

With a loud whooshing noise, the rattling and whining stopped. As the _Enterprise_ punched its way out of the singularity, a cloud of gas shot forward and was left in its wake. A collective sigh of relief sounded throughout the crew compliment. Doing a once-over of the instruments, everyone realised they had made it through the rip with little to no damage to any systems or the hull.

For Kirk, a different realization formulated in his mind. The vessel he captained drifted forward confidently toward out into space. But not just any space.

They were now truly where no one had gone before.

 **...**

The _Enterprise_ drifted away from the immediate corona of the rip, moving straight forward into the unknown. Now that they were cruising again.

"Unknown planet dead ahead, sir." Chekov said, turning back to his superior.

"Onscreen." Uncrossing a leg, Kirk leaned on his knees, peering out at the mysterious brown planet spinning to their left. Greenery was scare except near the equatorial regions. Clouds covered a lot of the surface, but exposed a mix of large light brown blotches and some darker brown areas.

At his station at the bridge's rear, Spock kept his gaze fixed on the sphere that seemed so familiar it was as if he'd been there. "It appears as if this is the same planet we saw during the mindmeld, Captain."

 _No doubt_ , Kirk thought. After all the terrible things he'd seen during the meld, it'd be weeks before a single detail, a single image didn't haunt him when he shut his eyes. Asking anyone who'd hear, he asked, "Have they spotted us?"

Uhura revolved in her chair to answer. "It doesn't appear so, sir. If the _Enterprise_ stays near the rip, the interference _should_ keep us hidden." Her eyes caught on the single bright sun just poking out from behind the planet's edge.

"Perfect." Kirk stood, pointing toward his navigator. "Chekov, take the controls. Sulu," he looked to the helm, "you've got to get us down there."

"Our only chance is if we fly a shuttle in manually. But the odds of them not seeing us are-"

"-I've total faith in you." Kirk clapped Sulu on the shoulder, his lips curving upward. Sulu couldn't help but smile at the compliment. Turning to see McCoy lost in thought at the broad vista of the viewscreen, he added, "Bones, you're with us."

McCoy snapped out of his trance-like state, looking at his Captain with disbelief. "What?! Why do I have to go? Jim, I'm a doctor, not a covert agent."

"Precisely." Spock replied. He pivoted his chair, getting up and clasping his hands behind his back. "And as a doctor," he continued, closing the gap between himself and his two fellow crewmen, "you may be our only hope in defeating the Gorn. If you are able to discover an antidote to their venom, we could definitely gain an advantage."

 _There's that darn logic again._ McCoy tried to think of a way around it. It was no use. As much as he hated to admit it, Spock was right. Yet again. "Uh...damn it!" He thrust his hands downwards, jerking his head down in a mix of frustration and defeat.

Brushing off the doctor's objections, Kirk addressed the navigator. "Chekov, how much time do we have?"

Wheeling to analyse the readings, he recalibrated the instruments and equations to get a proper read on the ever narrowing anomaly. "At the current rate of contraction, the rip will close in approximately six hours, sir."

"Chekov, I want the _Enterprise_ back on the other side of that rip before it closes." Thumbing over his shoulder toward the singularity now behind them, he strode toward the turbolift and the back right corner of the bridge. McCoy eyed him at the word " _Enterprise"_ , detecting a tone in his voice that wasn't there a moment ago.

"After you return-right sir?" Chekov asked, expecting the answer would obviously be yes. Everyone on the bridge expected the same. It wasn't at all.

Turning, Kirk's lowered voice responded. " _Whether or not_ we return."

It took a moment for the gravity of the Captain's words to sink in. For the second time in as many minute, McCoy was caught completely off guard.

"Wait..." His face contorted as he looked out the screen. "What?!" He turned, gaping at Kirk, his eyes filled with abject horror.

Uhura pivoted in her chair. "Captain?" She, too, was stunned.

Kirk wouldn't stand around waiting for the entire bridge to object. He used his best command voice, speaking firmly while staring into his navigator's eyes. "That's a direct order, Mister Chekov." He pointed downward with force. "I will _not_ have this ship and my crew left at the mercy of those things if we can't get out of there in time." He finished, thumbing over his shoulder again to illustrate.

"Aye sir." Chekov spun back around, looking dejected. For a moment, Kirk wished he hadn't been so hard on him.

"Spock, Sulu, Bones – with me." He pointed to each as he spoke. As the group of four left, McCoy snuck back beside the young Russian navigator who was now thoroughly engaged in his work.

"Chekov, I'm counting on you," he said, hands on the young officers shoulders.

From inside the lift, Kirk looked around for his CMO, spotting him by the Conn. "Bones, let's go!"

"Right behind you, Jim." McCoy turned and raised a hand in the air before walking away. Noticing his commanding officer was distracted in conversation, he returned to the Conn.

"Seriously...don't _leave_ me down there," he pleaded in a low voice. Then he hurried after the Captain.

Alone at his seat, Chekov's face paled. He could feel the pressure both men had just placed on him. One was his captain, the other his doctor. Both were his friends.

 _Vhat do I do now?_

 **...**

 _Stardate 2259.33_

 _Gorn Planet–Northern Region_

 _Mountain Range_

Jagged, snow capped mountain tops towered into the dismal yellowish-grey sky. Mahogany brown in colour, several rocky outcropping and ragged peaks gave the region unique character. Clouds and fog made any sort of vision difficult at best.

That was, however, different for anyone inside the shuttle craft. The guidance system in front of Sulu on the controls helped him avoid hitting the blanketed cliffs, and allowed him to detect the masked frequencies coming off a nearby mountain top. After locating a plateau suitable for landing ten minutes earlier, he brought the craft into a gradual descent, though not getting a visual of their decided on landing point.

"Okay everybody, belt up tight. Moving us in for final approach." Sulu called over his shoulder. The officer's responded by securing themselves a little tighter. Spock adjusted in his seat beside the pilot. McCoy turned to elbow his captain in the ribs, only to see that he _had_ been belted in the whole ride, much to his surprise.

"Good job, Sulu. See if you can manage a nice, soft landing." Turning to McCoy, he grinned. "What? Even I put safety first sometimes."

McCoy felt glad hearing this. "If only you'd feel like this more often. It's the other times _I_ worry about."

"Lighten up, Bones. You worry too much."

"For good reason."

Spock spoke back into the back of the shuttle, not facing the CMO. "You need not be nervous, doctor. Everything is proceeding according to plan."

The humming of the shuttle's engines became the only noise in the craft. Kirk looked over, nodding to two security officers who accompanied the four members of the bridge crew down to the surface. At the front, Spock and the pilot busily worked to keep the shuttle steady and monitor the planet for further signs of activity. Suddenly catching notice of a projectile moving rapidly toward them.

His eyes widened. "Captain, we've got trouble."

Fumbling with his restraints, Kirk jumped up and raced toward the front.

A large golden plasma beam shot by the shuttle's aft. Another hit the mark, damaging out the left nacelle. Fire and smoke shot out from the wrecked propulsion system, casting almost a tail behind the suddenly crippled ship.

"What was that?" Kirk shouted, picking himself up off the deck.

Spock quickly made a rough scan of the projectile's origin. An outcropping a distance away was unlike the others. It was metal plated, and definitely unnatural. "We've been hit by a high energy plasma beam. It appears it was fired by an automatic security tower, approximately a mile out!" The first officer's words shot out in quick succession.

The cockpit console was now beeping with alerts. Trying as hard as he could, Sulu righted the shuttle, glancing down quickly to gauge the extent of the damage to their thrusters. Without power to manoeuvre properly, it was only becoming more dangerous to fly as they dropped between mountains and rock walls. What was worse was that they risked dropping out of the sky and spearing the craft on the spear-like formations below. At the speed they were going at, even a glancing blow could risk the hulls integrity.

The shuttle began to shake. Sulu fought to keep it steady, quickly bypassing broken power conduits and kicking in emergency backup power, as Spock's eyes caught the words ENGINE OVERHEATING flash on the screen. More warning began turning from green to yellow, and some went red. The next warning to Sulu's right was the worst. They were rapidly losing altitude. Every attempt he and his Vulcan co-pilot made to climb, a new problem arose.

 _No choice, have to set us down._ Kirk's voice from behind him only added to the pressure. "Sulu, status report!"

"Sir, we're losing altitude fast, all attempts to compensate have failed. Auxiliary power has already been rerouted, but no change. The thruster's still not responding, it's too badly damaged. We might need to initiate emergency landing procedures!" Temporarily shifting focus away from his controls, he accessed main scanners, one of the few systems not malfunctioning from the shock of attack.

"I would have to agree, Captain!" Spock added, not looking away from the front.

Kirk's face didn't show fear, but his eyes betrayed a growing level of anxiety. He gaped at the passing snow whipping against the front view, squinting to see the mountains though the fog. "Try to level us out at cruising speed. Take us in low through the mist, hope we'll lose them!" he shouted over the loud engines straining and the shaking shuttle.

Though not even close to their initially planned landing spot, a wide open area near a ridge looked good enough. Any farther, and their engines might cut out with them hundreds of feet in the air. _Not an option._ "We're a little far from our target, but I have to put her down here, sir." The shuttle jerked down, sending all passengers pitching forward. Sparks shot out from the above their heads. Sulu cast his eyes to Kirk.

"As long as we land safely, I don't care where you put us down!" Kirk responded, clutching the console to lean in beside his pilot. Out the window, the greenish-grey clouds shifted through the drab looking sky. The snow blew harder past the shuttle, now covering the mountainous region around them.

Metal scraped stone. The damaged craft jerked hard slightly upward as Spock and Sulu attempted to avoid several other outcroppings, utilizing topographical indicators now that vision was becoming too difficult on its own.

McCoy pitched to the side. "How much longer do we have to go?" He felt the side of his head for blood.

Another hit of a second outcropping sent the aft of the shuttle up.

"Brace for impac-"Kirk couldn't finish. The nose of the shuttle pitched straight down. He felt his feet come off the floor. With a massive bang, the shuttle hit the ground, head on.

 **...**

Somehow, he had done it.

Kirk wasn't exactly sure how they were still okay, let alone on the ground right side up, but Sulu had done it.

The cockpit was smoky and sparking. Around the inside of the shuttle, people coughed and choked. McCoy undid his seatbelt to check on the others, discovering they were all okay. Sighing with relief, he called out just to make sure. "Is everyone alright?" He was answered with a few confirmations.

Kirk pulled himself to his feet, checking his face for injuries and finding none. "I'm okay, Bones. You, on the other hand, are gonna have quite the bump later." He gestured to McCoy's head, drawing a moan from the Chief Medical Officer.

Sulu came to the back of the shuttle, checking on a redshirt before addressing Kirk. "Sir, the shuttle's out. The good news is, we're on solid ground."

Spock followed him up. "Captain, we are close to the highest point in this mountain range. We will have a long journey if we are going to make it to that tower."

Kirk nodded, preparing to open the door at the shuttle's rear. As the narrow rectangular hatch opened up and outwards, an icy wind blew into the shuttle, drawing shiver's from everyone.

Spock and Kirk were the only one's properly dressed for the weather; they donned planetary temperature regulation suits, reserved usually for away missions. Kirk's was mostly black with white flanks and yellow semi-circular patches on the shoulders. Spock's was the same, except the shoulder patches were blue.

Snow whipped past their faces as the six man crew made their way out, the security personnel bringing up the rear, armed with phaser rifles. Forming a small grouping just outside the shuttle, they all stopped to take in the surroundings of the foreign planet.

Kirk's boots sunk slightly into the loose snow covering most of the ground. Remarkably, though the shuttle had crashed into the hard rock, its duranium hull held firm. The front was only dented, but not fracturing. Smoke billowed out of the top; sparks flew from under a damaged shield plate.

Spock pulled his tricorder out, scanning the region. It was fifteen degrees below Celsius and dropping, with wind gusts coming out of the north east. Analysing the geography, he found sedimentary and granite-like formations, along with several other minerals and rock types he had never seen before. McCoy, Sulu and the others also looked around with wonder at the new surroundings.

Kirk's attention was caught by movement he saw on the ridge high overhead. Moving forward, he tapped Spock's shoulders, getting his attention. Lowering his tricorder, the Vulcan cast his gaze up at the ridge as well. Kirk took a step closer, straining to see what was up there.

Before the shuttle crew, a distance away, three creatures approached. More of the same strange creatures lined the outlook area high above and ahead of them. The one in the middle wore a red Y-shaped tunic with a yellow and blue sash down the front. The other two behind it were dressed in black and dark grey tunics with large frilled collars. Up on the ridge, dozens more dressed in darker clothes observed the newcomers holding something in their hands.

Kirk's usual courage failed him briefly. Stepping back beside his first officer, he tapped his shoulder, still staring up at the ridge. "Spock?..." By now, all eyes were directed toward the creatures.

Spock did not look to him, instead scanning the watchers from beyond with his tricorder. "Readings indicate that they are a separate species from the Gorn. They do not appear to be hostile." The three creatures off in the distance crept cautiously closer, backs hunched and long arms swaying. They were all quite lanky with tendrils on their faces, resembling that of the terran Mud Puppy.

"How do you know?" Kirk pressed.

After scanning a moment more, Spock turned and shrugged. "I do not."

"Comforting." Kirk replied.

McCoy was now checking _his_ tricorder. "Curious. Their biological makeup appears ill-suited for this type of environment." He looked back toward the ridge, considering the strange beings.

 _Could they be victims as well?_ "Think the Gorn drove them here?"

"It is highly probably. I would advise that we lower our weapons," he recommended, lowering a hand, "before we make additional enemies on this planet."

"Stand down." Kirk said, facing his security detail and repeating Spock's motion. They reluctantly lowered their rifles into the snow. Several of the creatures on the ridge appeared surprised, waving their cross bows around.

Kirk watched this, his face taking on a look of concern. Locking eyes with his first officer, he whispered, "Spock, if you're wrong..."

" _If_ I am wrong, then Starfleet will mourn all of us." As usual, the Vulcan spoke plainly.

A moment of silent unease. Unexpectedly, the creature clad in the red tunic nodded and made a rattling gurgle noise up to its followers. The others promptly signalled back, lowering their weapons and turning away, disappearing beyond the edge of the ridge. The last three walked back slowly, vanishing around a rock wall.

Sighing with relief, Kirk and the others resumed exploration of their surroundings. "Whew! It's a blizzard out here!"

McCoy almost growled. "You're only noticing _now_? It's damn freezing!"

Kirk addressed his security officers. "Hendorff, Donavan, you two get back in the shuttle where it's warm."

Hendorff nodded, gritting his teeth. "Yes, sir. I guess we should've brought cold weather gear for all of us." The tall officer's bulk of muscle made him impervious to a lot of tough conditions, but cold wasn't one of them.

As Kirk, Spock, Sulu and McCoy ventured through the snow, several things caught their attention. First off, multiple examples of wooden chests and containers were loosely grouped together. A few different statues, roughly resembling the creatures they'd just seen earlier stood tall against the prevailing gusts. Spock noted several clay pots over of various shapes and neck widths. One had legs, as though used to cook over a fire. Another wooden chest near it was covered with a colourful, mostly orange red and yellow textile, displaying a crudely made face. Kirk scanned all the artifacts for future reference.

The most surprising find was a small clump of plants. All four officers looked at the different types of flora. One was a grassy shrub, one had a tube-like stalk emerging from broad leaves, one had blossoming flowery leaves. All were orange. The last one towered over the four of them, multiple layers of reddish-orange leaves jutting from its central stalk. Spock was completely absorbed in his tricorder analysis.

"Somehow, these plants are able to survive in sub-zero temperatures. Fascinating..." Spock's voice trailed off as he realized that the captain was not paying attention to the botanical growth anymore.

Instead, he stood off to the side, shielding his view with one hand as he gazed towards the horizon. He turned and beckoned to the others. "We need to find a way off this mountain. Let's get moving."

He took off at a fast clip, kicking up loose snow as he ran. The others caught up to him quickly. They passed a small grouping of temporary dwellings erected in the shelter of a high cliff. As Kirk looked over his shoulder, he noticed that Dr. McCoy had stopped following them. Instead, he approached one of the tents and ducked under the curved covering.

He looked down at the woven rug's pattern beneath his feet. Placing a hand on the wooden framing, he admired the resourcefulness of such a simple cloth and wood tent and how it protected so well against the harsh winter storm raging outside. He took the time to examine the construction more carefully with his personal scanner. There wasn't that much time during away missions to appreciate fine craftsmanship.

Kirk stopped, calling back to his doctor. "Come on, Bones. You don't want to get lost, do you?"

"I'm coming. Just let me get warm first." McCoy rubbed his hands together and blew on them. Watching the familiar red colour return, he trekked after the other three crewmen. "Besides, I could always follow your footprints," he muttered under his breath. "Not going to fill in _that_ fast."

Three T-shaped poles held wind-torn banners, waving sadly out over the vast expanse before them. Slowing as he came up to the edge, Kirk unintentionally scared three pterodactyl-like birds, sending flying into the wind screeching.

Joining his captain at the edge, Spock once again consulted his tricorder, this time seeking the signal from the tower that targeted their shuttle. "Transponder frequency is coming from beyond this ridge."

Kirk planted his feet, leaning over the edge to look down into the gaping canyon below. It was _at least_ hundreds of feet to the rocky bottom. Birds glided on the updrafts, while clouds hovered below them, producing snow as well. "Huh, looks like we're gonna have to jump." While most would be dizzied, Kirk was excited at the prospect. He turned to his helmsman, who seemed more interested in the distant horizon than the steep cliffs below. "Sulu, can you fix that shuttle?"

"I think so, sir...but it may take some time."Sulu was realistic, but sure of himself.

"Try not to take _too_ long. If anything goes wrong we may need to get the hell out of here pretty quickly." He indicated over his shoulder with a thumb.

"Aye aye, sir." He turned and left.

Meanwhile, McCoy was preoccupied with a spot near the rocks ahead. Analyzing the biosignatures of a creature, he tried to log some data of its anatomy for his own study later. Making a rattling gurgle noise, the creature stiffened and ducked away from sight.

McCoy stumbled backwards, startled. The idea of remaining on the mountain with these creatures and who knows what else was unappealing to him. "Uhh...you know what? I'm coming with you."

Kirk and Spock both regarded him with incredulous looks. The captain's eyes twinkled. _I thought he was scared of heights..._

McCoy frowned at their hesitation. "What, you think I'm only useful back in sickbay?" He jabbed his thumb over his shoulder. "I was trained at the same academy that you were." His finger moved from one man to the other. "Took all the same courses. Passed every exam." He crossed his arms proudly. "Hell, _I_ even graduated."Pride gave way to an "aw, shucks" stance as McCoy looked away, clearly embarrassed. _Even surprised_ myself _with that one..._

Kirk and Spock shared a knowing look. The captain smiled at the thought of McCoy joining them. _Just wait 'til he finds out how far we plan to descend..._


	12. Chapter 12

_Chapter 10_

 _Stardate 2259.33_

 _Gorn Planet – Northern Region_

 _Mountains_

 _If man was supposed to fly, he'd have been_ born _with wings..._

Inspecting his black and blue suit carefully from foot to arms to neck, McCoy mentally prepared himself to make the jump by putting aside his fears. Taking in a deep breath, he thought of what was at stake.

 _You can do it, Leonard. Think of all the people counting on you..._ He stiffened and nodded at Kirk, indicating he was ready. As ready as he'd ever be.

Kirk suppressed a smile. Leaning casually against a rock, he uncrossed his arms, and gestured over the edge. "After you, doctor." Re-crossing his arms, he waited for McCoy to make the jump.

McCoy crept to the edge, leaning over to look down into the straight drop. His right foot knocked loose some gravel, sending it rattling down the side. _God have mercy..._

Jumping back, he put his hands up in surrender as if trying to push the edge away from him. "On second thought, I might be better suited back here with Sulu. I could help out on the shuttle. Get a head start on that antidote." The latter he was more enthusiastic about. One of Spock's brows arched upwards.

Kirk pushed off the rock with his back, allowing himself a small chuckle. "Good idea." It was where he'd want him anyways, back in the shuttle working on a cure. _Still, it would've been fun..._

Spock had already moved back to the task at hand. "We will need to take out that radio tower first."

Kirk turned away from McCoy's rapidly retreating form and faced the cliff. "You know, if we weren't trying to save the entire universe," he looked at Spock, "this might actually be _fun_."

And there it was. Spock marvelled at the way Kirk seemed to switch from serious to joking to serious again so fluidly. "If you say so, Captain."

The two officers backed up, crunching snow beneath their feet. Getting into a run position, both took off sprinting at the cliff. With a single hard step, they leapt off the edge and into the air simultaneously, tucking in their arms and legs and going into a nose dive into the canyon.

 **...**

"I never get tired of this!" Kirk shouted, a broad grin spreading across his face. Cold wind blew hard against his face, contorting it because of the high speeds.

"I had a feeling you wouldn't!" Spock responded without feeling, keeping close to his captain.

Together, Kirk and Spock fell downward to just the right distance above the canyon's rocky bottom. Upon reaching the optimal height, they spread their arms and legs, unveiling a translucent yellow webbed material. Catching the sudden updraft, they levelled out, gliding quickly through the deep gorge.

Overhead, two winged Gorn vessels flew overhead, unaware of the two Starfleet officers just thirty feet below the comparatively large ships. Wind and water droplets hit Kirk and Spock as they passed through fogs and over rocks. Kirk veered between a flock of the planet's avian species. Maybe the ones Kirk had scared. The feeling of being a bird gave Kirk a chuckle.

Spock spotted several finger-like outcroppings ahead along a narrow passage of the canyon and prepared to alter his flight path. Kirk noticed shortly after, angling his arms downward, taking an arc below the first danger. Tilting his body upward, down twice and then right in rapid succession, the two mirrored each other with each movement they made as they ducked, rose and swerved.

Once through the canyon, the two tucked in their arms and legs, retracting the webbing as they flew like bullets toward their target. Kirk slowly angled his flight path directly down, kicking his legs forward hard. Both spread out their webbing to rapidly slow their speeds. Kirk dropped to the ground, bending his knees and stumbling a few steps forward. The sound of boots hitting the ground alerted him that Spock made his equally awkward landing just to his right.

"Solid ground. Nice."Taking in a breath, Kirk surveyed the cliff walls and mountains out in the distance. His eyes held on some orange and yellow mosses and dry yellow grass growing on the ground and high rocks that lined the ledge just ahead.

Reaching over his shoulder, he clasped the weapon attached to the clip on his back. The Starfleet Type III Rifle was a lot different than the standard ones. Advanced combat training at the academy was the only way you'd ever be allowed to use it. It was long and sleek, with a compact handle and extending arm to rest on the users shoulder. Seeing how the Gorn were going to be covering this planet, they needed to have some more firepower. This gun fit the bill; a single high-powered kill shot, with the secondary fire empting a three-shot clip. It even had scope that made targeting easy.

Spock had studied the foliage in haste, having taken his rifle out already, took a few steps forward, eyes ahead. "The tower that shot us down is up ahead. Our shuttle will not get far if that tower remains operational."

"Well...let's take it out." Kirk's gaze drew up the mountain that stood out amongst the others. Silver and metallic, it stood all. At its peak leaning left, a finger-like projection stood diagonally out."Hmm. Just one? Shouldn't be too hard."Kirk's confidence lined his voice. Brown smoked surrounded the top.

Unbeknownst to him, a bridge-like structure detached at the middle and pulled apart.

Spock remained focused, his tone not changing. "That remains to be proven."

 _Again with the negative attitude._ Kirk _'s_ look changed to slight exasperation. "Anybody ever tell you, you can be a bit of a downer, Spock?" He asked, tilting his head to the side frowning.

"Yes Captain, you tell me that with great frequency." Spock replied calmly. Kirk couldn't decide whether Spock hadn't really cared, or if he was being sarcastic. His attention quickly turned back to the tower. Wind whistled through the wide open canyons that continued on further on, almost drowning out the distant humming noise from the tower itself. Looking through his new rifle's scope, Kirk eyed the finger-shaped turret at the structure's peak. It was black on one side and yellow and ridged on the left.

Seeing as they couldn't go forward, they only other way to go was right. Grabbing onto a small rise, Kirk ambled over stringy orange vines and yellow grass, standing up with Spock on a solid rocky surface.

 _Something's off._ Kirk's instincts were all telling him this was too easy. "A little too quiet." He whispered, stopping in place. "I don't like this."

At that same time, Spock was experiencing the same feelings. "I would have to agree." He paused, his eyes shifting around the massive rock walls on all sides of them. "The silence is quite unsettling."

"We are _definitely_ not alone." Slowly they paced forward. Kirk's heart began to pick up. His breaths were slow and even.

 _BZZZHHEEEWW!_

A yellow beam hit the ground beside Kirk's feet. "Take cover!" The two officers hurried behind chunks of rock, backs to their unknown attacker. The captain stiffened slightly as a shot deflected off his hiding place. Right behind his head. "Where'd that come from?" He asked, yelling to Spock.

The Vulcan was crouched, peering cautiously around to where the shots were coming from. "The enemy appears to be cloaked."

"How do we uncloak them?" Kirk snapped back. He was clearly not angry at Spock, but frustrated with fighting blind.

Spock tried to scan. "Our tricorders should be able to reveal them, if only temporarily."

That was good to know. Following the Vulcan's instructions, Kirk located the Gorn crawling along the cliff side. Hanging off the rocks with one hand, it clutched its weapon and fired again.

Finding the Gorn's location, Kirk poked the rifle around, aiming at the creature.

The creature moved, being followed by the long, thin barrel of his rifle. A shot rang out. Another. The Gorn screeched and fell, its gun flinging off to the side. He and Spock shifted out of cover, running behind another rock to the sound of another Gorn making a noise on the wall fifty feet ahead.

Working with professional speed and accuracy, they got to work locating and shooting the attackers. Spock shot one down, Kirk shot down a third. Kirk took the chance to move to a closer rock.

 _Slowly, but gradually._ At least they were moving in the right direction. Two more made noises, appearing on the cliff side. A shot hit Kirk's shoulder, sending him hard to the floor. Clutching his shoulder, he let out a moan. Spock reached out to his fallen friend, his face etched with worry.

"Captain, are you-"

"I'm fine, Spock! Just get him!"Getting back into position, Kirk shot down number four. Another beamed in almost as if it was replacing its downed comrade automatically.

"Take them out!" Kirk shouted, ducking under fire and sliding in beside a closer rock with several uneven points. Kirk locked onto the fifth creature, firing a shot off the rough rock wall, sending a second into Gorn. Screeching, it climbed sideways, down headfirst, and then back up, clinging to the wall and raising its weapon. Before it could aim its shot, Kirk discharged a kill shot into the Gorn's back.

Moving around a rock corner, Spock moved his weapon's barrel until it was trained on the climbing Gorn. Kirk focused his aim and began firing alongside Spock, downing the last fighter in a hail of fire.

Rifles away and hand phasers raised, captain and first officer scissor stepped around a few large jagged boulders and over to the spot where the last Gorn had fell. Discovering it dead, Spock took out his tricorder to transmit readings of both the weapon and deceased Gorn to the _Enterprise._

Considering the weapon first, Spock noted, "The scope of this rifle offers a high-magnification lens with a red gun sight."

A smile broke onto Kirk's face. "I'll bet they were all seeing red when we showed up."

"We have not encountered this variation of the Gorn until now."

"Definitely." Kirk responded curtly, looking the twisted body at his feet over. Several energy bullets had pierced its torso, and one went in its head. The beast had a short flipper of a tail, almost a fin. It also had a well developed musculature, and horns pointing back from its head and down from its chin.

Kirk's knelt down where Spock crouched, looking closely at his dead adversary. "Look at the long arms and legs on this guy."

"This Gorn is perfectly adapted for climbing on these cliffs. Its claws," he gestured to the reptile's feet, "dig into the rock face. I would suspect that they utilize these abilities to scout areas undetected."

"Fine. Gorn Scouts, that's what we'll call them." He supplemented his message to his chief engineer and flipped his communicator shut. "What about this...gunky stuff on his skin?" He retracted a gloved hand from the leg, nodding at a gummy liquid now stuck to him.

Spock's eyebrow rose, as it did whenever he was surprised, curious or confused. "A most intriguing find, Captain. This substance appears to be able to render these creatures invisible."

"But wait." Kirk stopped, his brows coming together in confusion. "How come the other Gorn couldn't do this? I mean, why do they all look so different from each other?"

Spock paused. Clearly he hadn't considered this, but was equally fascinated and confused by the Gorn's wide variety of appearances. "I do not know, but we cannot stop to question this now." Standing, he put his tricorder away. "Seeing as the Gorn are now more capable than we first thought, we must take special precautions. Vigilance is a must."

"Couldn't have said it better myself. Keep your eyes open for movement." Kirk clutched his personal phaser and stalked onward. In his field of view, everything was eyed carefully for signs of activity or threatening aspects.

Translucent orange rails with meshed wood. Ground mosses and lichens. Cracked dry light brown and grey mud and rocks. The clouds, a foggy mix of sickly green and grey. The jagged mountains, the tower...

A grassy patch. Something lurked. Aiming his weapon at the perceived threat, Kirk shuffled warily toward the figure.

It was a creature like the ones they had seen before when they arrived. Naked and dead, it laid against the rocks, brown capped head dipped to its pink chest. The long pale arms and fingers sprawled over its short, stubby legs. Based on the scans he took, Kirk could see the creature was weak and malnourished. _Poor little guy._ Kirk felt a twinge of guilt.

Spock scanned some pink plants with four circular leaves connected in the center with multiple stems. They seemed to move on their own in black soil. Kirk shot him a pained look.

"I saw the deceased creature, Captain. There is nothing I can do." Spock frowned, offering his Captain a sympathetic look. "I _am_ sorry he or she has met this fate."

Attempting to change the thoughts that raced in his head, Kirk looked to move forward, catching a glimpse of the bridge ahead. It was separated by, well, more than enough distance to dissuade Kirk from making a jump for it.

"Looks like a dead end. There's _got_ to be a way around this thing." Kirk was not going to let this small problem stop him. After all, he didn't believe in no-win scenarios. He'd been through much worse.

"I believe there may be a way for _one_ of us to get across."

Kirk was already searching for that one way, though he was certain Spock was probably calculating some complex method of crossing the gap or strengthening his tricorder signal to access the manual override on the locking mechanism.

 _Gotta be something, anything...THERE!_ A short distance away and a little higher up, a single taut rope was strung across a wide gap to one of the four small towers of rock sticking up from the deep gorge. Kirk had to stifle a laugh. _What are the odds? Gorn have zip lines?_

"Let's go!" Kirk shouted, running off in the direction of the line, followed shortly by his first officer. While Spock waited to boost his captain up to the ledge above, Kirk stopped short, crouching down and perching his rifle on a line of rocks.

Through his scope, two Gorn he now knew as initiates patrolling on the rocky platforms. Placing a hand on the trigger, he aimed and fired the last two clips into the Gorn's torsos, moving from the lower to the higher one. Noticing his weapon was empty, Kirk stopped to reload before getting thrust up onto the ledge. While Spock ran back to a suitable place to provide cover fire, Kirk jumped up and put his rifle over the rope, clutching it on either end. The trip down was a short one, though Kirk enjoyed it.

The enjoyment was brief. Over his head, he could hear a Gorn beam in as he landed on a ledge. Tapping the comm on his suit's arm, he shouted.

"Give me some cover fire!"

Scrambling up onto the cliff side, he met another initiate just landing in front of him. It roared and raised its weapon. A blue beam stunned it. Still holding his phaser at arm's length, he fired red kill shots into its chest, sending it blasting over the side into the unforgiving depths below.

Ducking behind a rock, Kirk saw another Gorn and two drones en route. _Spock, now would be a good time..._

 **...**

In his years of weapons training, Spock had never had the occasion to use such advance Starfleet weaponry in actual combat.

Though it was his first _real_ test, he had no trouble whatsoever. The main problems most long distance shooters had were either nervousness or distraction. All his life, Spock was taught to control his emotions, to manage his feelings. This should be no different. Any anxiety he felt from his human half were quickly eliminated.

Quickly and expertly, Spock crouched behind a rail, resting his rifle on top of it. This would be his makeshift sniper's nest. Around him, the outside world seemed to go quiet. All he saw was his target, moving down on his captain.

He closed one eye and moved the Gorn initiate into his scope...

 _One shot,_ one enemy down. He moved his aim to the drone, searching out his Captain. Another shot hit its mark.

"That guy never had a chance." Kirk muttered under his breath, still loud enough for Spock to hear. To ignore. The Vulcan targeted another drone. Three shots, three hits.

Spock saw his Captain move into the open, only to hide again quickly. _More approaching targets._ Two drones hovered up from rocks. Another two shots destroyed one drone. Kirk took out the last with his hand phaser.

With a curt nod, Spock readjusted.

 **...**

"That takes care of that."

Kirk grinned. He tried to shoot his XO a look of gratitude. He couldn't find him anywhere. Slowly he stepped back, preparing for a jump to the next lower platform. The alternative, after all, was making another jump where he had to hope his hands could grasp the jagged edges.

He was sure McCoy would think he'd choose the most dangerous route in a heartbeat. _Come on, Bones. Even I have my limits..._

Hard steps. Springing off the edge, he landed hard on his feet before flopping onto his side. Dust kicked up behind him. Kirk had lost count how many times he'd had to rub his side. Spitting dirt bits out of his mouth, he stood and prepared for his next jump...

 _Really?_ This was no jump. Ahead of him, the only way onward, was a single broken outcropping. It was only about a foot wide, and split in the middle.

This was _still_ not the most dangerous thing Kirk had done. His academy days alone...Kirk snapped himself out of his reverie and concentrated on the tiny rock bridge.

 _Just like walking, nothing to it._ Kirk imagined he was trying to impress a group of female cadets back in the officer's mess. This was _supposed_ to make it easier. Gazing downward, Kirk couldn't even _see_ the bottom of the gorge. Thick yellow clouds filled it, making uncertain just _how_ deep this thing went. His heart skipped. The heights literally were "dizzying."

A squawking noise. "We've got a new guy!" Kirk took a relieved step onto a small but solid ledge, leaping up to grab a rock. Vaulting up over the side, he slid behind a rock. One of his earlier victims still lay there, dead. Wincing at a shot of pain in his side, he scanned for the newest enemy. On a rock wall not too far ahead, a Gorn crawled along the rough edges.

A shot rang out from somewhere a distance back of Kirk. The Gorn screamed, but still kept trying to shoot him. Locating his target, he aimed and blew the Gorn away. Going limp, the creature fell off like a rock, smacking against every rock on the way down. Kirk could almost hear its bones breaking.

Getting up, he clipped the rifle to his back, ran and jumped for a weedy rock wall, clutching himself against the side and moving laterally along the edge. Kirk's arms ached as he slid his way along an arch of stone, legs dangling. The weight of his type III rifle, though designed to be as light as possible, didn't help.

"Captain, you need to work more quickly!" Spock's voice was calm but urgent.

Kirk was speechless. _I'm dangling from a treacherous rock wall that could give at any second, and he wants me to hurry?_ If Spock honestly thought that, than _Kirk_ thought he should've been here instead.

The Captain froze at the sight of a Gorn peering over the ledge above him. Arching its back, the creature looked down.

A breathy roar. The creature scrambled for cover. Kirk shifted quickly along arch, reached his leg up onto a ledge and climbed up to meet his attacker head on. To his surprise, the creature was firing in a completely different direction, as if Kirk wasn't there.

 _Spock._ It was shooting at Spock. Kirk unholstered his phaser.

 _Bang!_ A red projectile made contact with the Gorn, sending it pitching off the side of the cliff. Its weapons fell after it.

"Nice shot, Spock!" Kirk said, forgetting the anger he directed at his first moments earlier.

"Thank you, Captain. Please hurry, there are likely to be more."

"Copy that." Kirk noted a circular flat object on another rock platform. Turning away from it, he made a run toward the next rocky rise, leaping over a gap and tumbling into cover.

"Give me some cover fire!"Two more scouts beamed in, becoming invisible on the rock wall. Loading his tricorder scans, Kirk prepared to aim his sniper rifle at the reptiles, which were already firing on him and Spock.

A shot caught Kirk's body. Pitching onto his side, he slammed his tricorder shut and holstered it. As he slid back into cover, shots kicked up dirt beside him. Spock let loose two shots, killing one Gorn and sending it to the rocks below.

Aim. Focus. The scope allowed Kirk to see close enough to almost look in the fighter's face. Quickly, he drew back the trigger. The triple shot penetrated its face and chest, instantly ending its life.

Getting up gingerly, Kirk ran right to his platform's edge and leapt off, clutching the grassy wall, jumping down twice. His boots ground the gravel down as he bolted left, trying to get up enough speed to clear the gap ahead.

Scrambling up the side of the hard, rocky surface, Kirk needed no excuse to hurry. The rocks and depth alone were more than enough to surge his adrenaline. The crumbling dirt and plants under his feet didn't help.

The console was several meters in advance. As he activated it, the automated bridge moved together and locked. "Spock! Let's move. We don't have much time." Kirk's voice was low from exhaustion and a decreasing lack of enthusiasm.

A narrow pathway was followed up by an open space. Kirk knew this _had_ to be a door. Or a hole. Or some way in.

Spock clutched his shoulder. "Captain, look out, th-" Kirk ran out and behind a tall rock. There was a door. And something else just above it.

An oval-shaped piece of tech swivelled slowly back and forth on a thin arm. It shone green light over the ground before the door.

"We will need to avoid the detection system." Spock said, peering at the strange Gorn tech.

 _A security camera._ Of course. Kirk scanned it, thinking that a certain chief engineer would like to see this rather mundane, non-threatening piece of Gorn machinery. His mind stopped. _Is anything about the Gorn non-threatening?_ Hacking quickly into the system, he rerouted the power away from the camera.

 _Problem solved. Well, at least for now, anyways._ The camera's light shut off. First the head stiffened up, and then dropped down. Seeing it was now neutralized, Spock proceeded toward the doors. Kirk wasn't quite finished. Raising his gun, he blew the camera away with a single maximum power shot.

"Sabotage, Spock. Might as well, after all." Kirk said, justifying his actions to a silently confused Spock.

An arched brow. "Logical, Captain. Now that it is destroyed, the changes you made to the system will go undetected. It will take personal reconnaissance to find out why the camera is no longer functioning. Well done." Spock was impressed.

Kirk simply shrugged. "Give me a hand with this door." He said, grabbing one and pulling is slowly to the side. Spock got in between the crack, putting his back against one door and using his arms to push off with the other. The door almost slid effortlessly aside with their combined strength.

A dark room with a set of wires on the ceiling and copper-coloured walls greeted them. Spock moved forward, carefully analyzing a beetle-like object on the wall. As he got close, it opened a hatch and a small tool poked out.

Kirk, who was charging his weapon with some relief packs he had, caught his breath. "That could be booby trapped. Spock, look out!"

"Doubtful, Captain." The Vulcan responded, scanning it carefully. "This item appears to be utilized for...scanning the Gorn. It is touch activated."

Kirk shook his head, placing the rifle on his back. Passing through automatically opening doors, he and Spock got into cover and surveyed the area. The tower was so close, less than a hundred yards away. Rock formations and clumps couldn't obstruct his view.

 _Haha, mission accomplished._ He just had to avoid a few Gorn patrolling, and...

A buzz. The open ladder on the side of the tower became enveloped in a yellow force field.

"Damn it!" We're gonna have to find another way." Kirk really wished they didn't have to, though.

"We will need to enter that facility in order to disengage the tower's shielding." Spock replied, directing Kirk's attention to a set of doors nearby. The "facility" was evidently carved out of the mountain's side. "May I suggest a more indirect route?"

Kirk sighed and nodded.

"Sounds good to me." He crouch ran to Spock's cover, and then up onto a small Gorn-made platform behind some black Gorn weapon crates. Retrieving a grenade from a small box in back, he looked out with his rifle at the patrolling creatures.

Enforcer moving near the entryway into the facility. Observer walking about, trailed by a blue drone hovering a short distance above it. Lastly, an initiate, stalking around near the tower. The tall building's strange buzzing noise Kirk had heard earlier was now even louder. The Gorn now and then made short vocalizations as they passed. From what Kirk heard, they sounded harsh.

Kirk crawled down behind a fin-shaped rock cluster, followed by his Vulcan first officer. "Let me handle this, Spock." He aimed and fired at the initiate standing just in front of the tower's front.

Moving quickly into a small ditch, Kirk and Spock made their way through, crouch running all the way. Under two flat walkway bridges, they found themselves at the other end. Kirk climbed up first, waiting for the red female known as an observer to pass before he went up over onto the flat ground.

Behind an oddly shaped rock formation that formed a protective U-shape against the wall, Kirk waited for the Gorn to patrol back around. He readied by placing his rifle end on a depression in the solid barrier in front of him. Walking slowly into view and stopping, the Gorn turned its head from side to side. A triple shot to the torso took it down in a flash.

"I believe _that_ drone is not equipped with a weapon." Spock whispered, scanning it carefully. "The laser it utilizes provides the Gorn with a personal shield, but it is weak. It is likely they also serve as a reconnaissance tool." Because this was very important mission, they needed _every_ bit of data they could amass about the Gorn, from technology to the species themselves. Being chief science officer, Spock was naturally curious.

So was Kirk. A _piece of technology made by the Gorn that wasn't meant to kill things?_ Now he'd seen it all. From what Scotty had message him with earlier, they could detect you and tell the Gorn almost instantly.

Spock aimed again and shot the drone from the sky. It exploded in a brilliant flash. Thankfully, the sound was quiet enough not to alert the remaining stocky Gorn enforcer. Moving back right, Kirk looked at his last target with determination.

Just down a ramp from it, a flat octagonal platform lay activated on the ground. Yellow energy crackled up from it. Beside it, a few black storage containers and red power cell-like tubes.

Kirk gripped his rifle tighter as the creature came closer down the entry doors along a raised platform. Closer to him. He knew about this things armour. He had all the more reason, then, to make his shot count. If he hit his target, they were clear. If he didn't, the octagonal platform would allow for backup to beam in instantaneously.

The enforcer bent over, examining the doorway and sniffing for...something. Kirk took this moment of vulnerability. He pointed his rifle, staring down the scope.

Pulling the trigger, he pumped crimson beams of energy into it. The creature let out a cry as it flew back and collapsed in a heap.

"We are clear. Let us proceed." Spock got up from his position and took the long way around, down a ramp and over the octagon toward the entrance door of the facility.

Kirk clipped his rifle and vaulted over the rocks, landing with a thud, and slightly awkwardly on his ankle. He suppressed a groan, straightening up and hurrying past Spock to the door.

"Commander, I need your help with this system." Kirk was already inside the facility's locking system, trying to and failing at tricking the controls to believe it should open. In seconds, Spock used what he already knew of Gorn hacking and opened the door.

"Good work, Spock. I could not have done that on my own." Both men made their way inside the facility. It was dark. Something just ahead was dripping.

 **...**

 _Stardate 2259.33_

 _USS Enterprise – Bridge_

Uhura looked intently at the scans she had received from the chief engineer with wonder.

For the second time in a matter of hours, she was faced with a new language, one no linguist had ever seen before her. She knew that with every breakthrough she made, she was making history. It was exhilarating. Translating would be long and tedious, but the new dialect was proving easy enough to create the most basic cipher for.

 _Anything is better than studying the Gorn._ Trying to understand their inflections and speech patterns had become less and less enjoyable, if it ever was. Even when she didn't hear something being killed or beaten, the verbal exchange was always violent or aggressive.

In her years of studying languages, her many long hours and late nights perfecting her skills at the academy, and her learning about the Federation and Starfleet's principles for understanding different peoples cultures and forming connections and her own beliefs, she had held peace was attainable. Even with Romulus one day, if the two sides could understand each other better. The Gorn were quickly becoming the obvious exception. She could find no sign of any desires beside pillaging and killing, taking over and running over planets.

Which was why she liked _this_ language a lot better. They were simple humanoids that called themselves the "Lymax", with simple lives and a basic communal structure. Luckily for her, they had even gotten some writings to add to the audio recordings. Best of all, they seemed to care for each other. Feel for each other. Something completely and eerily absent from the Gorn altogether.

Reaching for her comm station, she opened a channel. "Mister Scott, come in."

 _"_ _Scott here, Lieutenant. What do you need?"_ The roguish voice responded.

"I was wondering if you've got anymore scans from the planet's surface on the Lymax."

 _"_ _Did you say 'Lymax'?"_ Scotty leaned his head closer to his communicator.

"Yes, Lymax. That's what I've determined they call themselves." Her eyes moved back to the readings. "Did the landing party send you anything more since I last checked?"

 _"_ _No, sorry. I did have a very interesting discussion with doctor McCoy, but that is a story for later. I'll be heading back to the bridge soon."_ The din of hissing steam, noisy engineering equipment and crew chatter behind him made Scotty raise his voice a little. _"But I have been doing my own research on some sculptures and artifacts they found."_

Uhura made a face. A smile. "Sculptures? You're not exactly an art connoisseur, Scotty."

 _"_ _Aye, well, they've revealed some interesting stuff on these people. I am always amazed at the similarities in artwork between distant peoples."_

The lieutenant sighed. "I need to see those later. It could really help me understand what all this writing is about."

 _"_ _I'll convey everything I've got as soon as I'm done. I have to say, it's all quite fascinating, really."_

Uhura smiled. "Okay, no rush. You can bring it when you come back to the bridge. Uhura out." Ending the transmission, she briefly looked out at the planet spinning calmly out front of the ship's viewscreen. Somewhere down there, six of her fellow officers, many of them good friends, were fighting bravely up against the Gorn.

She glanced at the clock counting down the time until the rip closed. Still several hours to go, but every minute that passed by was one less they had to escape the unforgiving clutches of the Gorn power lurking just beyond the blanket of interference that protected the _Enterprise_.

Pivoting in her chair, she recommenced work on the Lymax vocalizations. Her eyes briefly hovered on the comms, ready for the next call from whoever would reach out from below.

 **...**

 _Stardate 2259.33_

 _USS Enterprise – Main Engineering_

In his small personal station room, Scotty was amazed and at the same time confused.

The walls somewhat muted the familiar sounds of the crewmen, the warp core's incessant thrumming, and various systems chugging and whirring away that Scotty had grown to love. It was brightly lit and had plenty of computer space and open floor for him not to feel cramped or squeezed in. Making notes on the research items Spock and Kirk found occupied some of his time, and though it was on occasion boring and useless when he got stuff he didn't understand, he was determined to fulfill his task. He was dedicated to what he'd set out to do. _If you start something, you should finish it._

He was also dedicated to tinkering with and caring for every intricacy and detail of the _Enterprise_ 's system functions, from the warp core to the shields to the food processors to the lighting. Even the holodecks needed repair, and debugging the systems was not limited to the main computers alone.

With a solid crew, his task was made easier. Though Scotty would never say looking after the ship was simple, just as McCoy would never say being ship's doctor and CMO was effortless. If either made mistakes, it could result in death.

Right now, the _Enterprise_ sat motionless in space, and was relatively safe from harm. This allowed Scotty and his pint-sized second in command to begin studying the strange alien culture the landing party had discovered.

"Sorry, buddy, I'll be with you in a second."The chief held up a finger, finishing his analysis of the latest weapons used by what Kirk had referred to as "scouts". He _didn't_ want Keenser seeing this. Although fully grown, he could help but feel the need to shield his fellow crewmate of the nastiest sides of the Gorn. Essentially, the "striker" as Scott dubbed it was a Gorn sniper rifle. Until this, it seemed that the Gorn liked to kill – no, liked to _devastate_ – their opponents at close range. Maybe they were tactical, and not just brutal.

Seeing his friend growing impatient, he clicked his screen off and brought up a more interesting scan.

"Would you look at this, Keenser?" Scotty tapped a finger on the screen before him, bringing up an image of one of the squat square boxes. "A bloody treasure chest!"

"Loot."Keenser said, a smile in his scratchy voice. "Seriously. Not a chest."

"Oh, I know that. But I can always dream, can't I?" Scotty's eyes danced across the readings, typing his own descriptions as he went along. His mind drifted back to his childhood. Many times he had fantasies about racing across the skies in a starship, seeking gold, diamonds, dilithium and other valuable items. That was all behind him now. He much preferred life on the _Enterprise_ to the many violent encounters of a pirate's life.

"These are probably some ceremonial or religious artifacts." He couldn't quite tell yet what its contents were. "Maybe they keep these around for ceremonies."

"Encampment." Keenser brought up a tab, showing the overlay of where the objects were in respect to each other.

Scotty gave it a closer look. "Well, you might have something there. Look, everything seems organized into separate places. Living quarters, cooking area, praying area." Something bothered him about the camp though. It didn't seem suited for the mountains. He asked a question rhetorically.

"Why don't they have some better blankets or something for the cold? They're horribly ill-prepared." A thought occurred to him. "You don't suppose they're nomads?"

"Hunting parties?" Keenser suggested.

" _Or_ they could be trying to avoid the Gorn. I think I'd move about anywhere with surly neighbours like that." They both shared a chuckle.

A million questions swirled in Scotty's mind. He shook his head as if to clear his now packed mind. _I've got to stay focused._ After describing and naming several pots, a cooking pan, colourful textiles, banners and some tents, he came across the statues again. They were modelled after the Lymax, so he heard, and were seemingly hand carved from stone. Not too different from early earth cultures.

"Sculptures."

"Yes, Keenser, very nicely made ones, too. Self representations, looks like." Scotty tilted his head."These three were all placed together. This one appears to be protecting the others." He liked the craftsmanship. It was very fine work indeed; smooth and detailed, with no flaws or discoloration that he could see.

"I like this one. Kind of like a Golem." He pointed to a solid figure that stood proudly, head upturned, arms straight down and legs crouched. Like a bull male gorilla. "Look at how tall it is. He must be a pretty important fellow." But the question remained: who were they? Famous people? Legends of folklore? Their Gods, perhaps? It was unlikely he'd ever figure it out just by looking at it.

Nodding, Scotty's friend turned back to the information. "Small one. Like me." Keenser placed one stubby finger over the image of a squat version of the larger statue.

"Yeah. It's almost like you and me, those two." He smiled, studying Keenser's inscrutable expression."I've got to get to the bridge. With first and second in command both planetside, that leaves _me_ in charge." He got up and patted his short friend's back. "I've got some information for Lieutenant Uhura, anyways. Might as well deliver it meself."

Keenser grunted and headed down the aisle, past a tall officer who was busy tightening the seal on a containment tank. "Hold down fort," he muttered.

The chief nodded and held up one finger. "That's the spirit. I'm sure the Captain and his team will be back in no time." Scotty turned and left in the opposite direction, looking back at the massive main engineering room once before exiting. He had a ton of information to wade through, and even less time to do it.

Maybe Lieutenant Uhura could shed some light on this mess.

 **...**

 _Stardate 2259.33_

 _Gorn Planet – Gorn Secure Facility_

 _Disgusting_ , Kirk thought, watching the source of the dripping.

He couldn't guess, nor did he want to, what the thick yellow ooze seeping from a pipe in the ceiling was. Charging his weapon, he was surprised that Spock hadn't commenced scanning the foul stuff, instead charging his own weapon. Maybe even he could be put off this once.

Kirk analysed the dark hallway. The floors were dirt. The walls were a metal his tricorder didn't recognize, and partially illuminated in green. Wires and pipes ran along the ceiling. Apparently, the Gorn didn't make _anything_ that wasn't copper coloured. He doubted they cared for style anyways.

Crunching dirt and gravel. The captain and his XO hurried quietly up the corridor and through the doors at the end.

A Gorn enforcer was busy at a console ahead of them, his back turned. The two officers hid behind one of the four pillars. In a silent conversation, Spock directed his superior officer's attention to the security camera preventing a way out of the room, and the power supply feeding into a panel on the far pillar – to the enforcer's right.

A maintenance tunnel leading under the floor was certainly handy. Kirk opened the hatch, slid down followed by Spock and crawled through the bending path. It was big enough to stand, but crouching was quieter. Unfortunately, it also strained Kirk and Spock's already-in-pain legs, and it was impossible to avoid the dripping yellow gunk coming off the ceiling. After angling and re-angling his tricorder, even hanging off the ladder leading up, Kirk got a signal long enough to remotely connect. Shutting off the camera took no time at all, maybe twenty seconds.

Since the enforcer was very involved, tapping away at his all important work, he did not notice the green light shut off to his left. Creeping back through the tunnel, Kirk emerged where he started. Spock came out a moment later, joining his captain behind a post. The two moved in unison, sliding next to a computer console, then another pillar.

Kirk could hear the low, heavy breathing of the enforcer behind his head. Its blue muscular bulk was hunched over the console, pressing quietly away to little beeping buttons. If it caught view of either of them, filling the two officers with semi-automatic spread projectiles would become its new objective. Kirk was not going to take chances with Spock's life, or his own.

A blast of energy slammed the screaming Gorn into its work station and onto the floor. Another blast destroyed the security camera. The doorway was now, if not already before, completely safe to pass through. The station the Gorn had been working at was odd, at least to the two visitors. Besides the standard Gorn rectangular design with front facing, slanted keypad and controls, the readout was highly unusual. A large, flat square with an arched top. A rough design of a sphere with several critical points highlighted.

Motioning his first officer forward, Kirk silently directed him to unlock the door's encryption. Once the doors slid open, both men slowly walked into the main room.

As Spock scanned for a way to access the tower shields, he found something that set him on edge, almost amazed him. "The whole room is filled with-"

"-weapons." Kirk responded grimly to the readings. "I know. This could get ugly. This is probably their security center."

"If we can access the central computer, we may be able to shut down the main security system."

Kirk glanced away. "That would make our job a whole lot easier."

Noticing a power flow below the floor, Spock began formulating a plan. "There is a coolant system running through the pipes below." A coolant was necessary in any power system to keep the systems from overheating. Logically, to avoid an explosion, the system would shut down automatically. "If we stop the coolant, it should shut down the main system."

An enforcer patrolled through the halls. It was growling something inaudibly. At first he dismissed its noises.

 _"_ _W'rtochs...Bis' ckets (inaudible) gra'bitz!...Chik'n..."_ It growled with contempt. But then, Gorn always seemed angry.

Kirk's ears perked up. _Chicken and biscuits?_ He was almost ready to laugh. _Maybe Bones would like this Gorn..._

 _Nah, definitely not._ Kirk's very southern CMO enjoyed many good old American dishes, but would never share a table with a Gorn, under any circumstances. Heading straight under the line of sight, past some weapon supply boxes and a console, he arrived at an entry hatch to a maintenance tunnel. An initiate class Gorn walked by a distance away, making a guttural noise as it entered a nearby room.

Once the small door was unlocked, Kirk was first to climb into the enclosed space. On a wall close to him, he saw a strange looking object plugged into a socket. Grabbing the handle at its end, he twisted the power cell and pulled it from its place. Throughout the facility, a succession of systems noisily powered down.

 _Is that it?_ It was. The system was already beginning to struggle compensating for the sudden overheating. "That worked, let's keep moving." He knelt down and placed the cell on the floor, quickly moving back toward the door.

"Captain, it is almost certain that the Gorn, if not before, will now be on high alert." Spock said, waiting by the short ladder.

"Got it." As Kirk was about to leave, he saw something beyond an oddly shaped panel of yellow glass. A creature, like the ones they saw when they landed, was standing in an empty enclosure without clothes on. It looked lost and confused, walking back and forth aimlessly.

 _What?_ Kirk got a look of confusion. Pain. _How could they end up like that?_ Another in a different window was asleep. Or dead. In a sudden, sickening realization, the trickles of yellow under his feet were most likely blood.

Climbing out of the shaft, Spock sighted a rounded tank on bubbling yellow liquid. Unlike the other distasteful substances they'd seen, this was a chemical. It was a thinner, lighter yellow colour.

"Spock, look. A vent. It's the quickest way to the next room." And the next vent, he thought.

"Agreed. We must move fast, there are more Gorn approaching."

With perfect precision and timing, they evaded the sights of the initiate, using stacked boxes and the ever prevalent computer stations. The short, cramped ventilation shaft took the two officers around a left turn to a small room. After waiting out a patrolling Gorn's exit, Kirk moved swiftly to the other side of the room. He noticed two more empty tanks on the orange-lit room, both full of liquid. Unlocking the hatch, he and Spock dropped in, manoeuvring under the floor. The Vulcan yanked the cell out from the wall to an echoing sound of systems powering down. He quickly set down the coolant cell and shifted quickly to keep up with his superior officer.

The next ladder went up into the dark, dark-floored open hall. Seeing as crates and consoles were placed in no particular order, it was obvious that the Gorn were disorganized. Kirk never thought they'd care anyways. It made for great hiding spots, so he wasn't going to argue. Moving by an initiate-class Gorn into the final access room, Spock opened the third hatch, allowing his Captain to climb in and crouch run for the final cell. Pulling it out, he glanced over at Spock for conformation they had shut the power down. After a series of descending groans from the internal facility workings, Spock looked up from his tricorder.

"That appears to be the last of them." Spock paused, looking around. "This way!" He whispered loudly, making quickly for a rectangular hole in the floor. Down in the yet lower passage, they hurried toward the open end around to the left.

A metallic clanking. Both officer's froze.

"What was that?"

Spock looked up. "I believe we have passed below a turret."

"Okay, then." Kirk was pretty sure they couldn't shoot through floors. At the hall's end, Kirk eyed a large, conduit-fed computer matrix. It sat in a recessed chamber in the floor, projecting a rotating golden orb with several blue and white readouts. _The entire planet..._ Kirk and Spock shared a look of awe. Their security was thorough. It was everywhere.

 _Not for long._ Kirk remotely disengaged the tower. Another loud mechanical system went off. Something above his head growled. Back up into the higher tunnel, Kirk saw another one of the creatures, dropping its head over and over very dramatically in shame or despair. For a brief second, its gaze held his. A silent exchange of pity. Of sorrow. Spock's face lost its usual neutral stare. Something flickered in his eyes. Without stopping, Kirk hurried toward the opening that led him and Spock out.

They had to continue. They couldn't fail. If the Gorn kept the device...

 _If we don't get to T'Mar..._ Kirk bit down and pulled himself up and slid behind a pillar. An empty tank thrummed to his left. A mess of wires hung down from above them, along with a claw on a metallic arm, pointing at a stretcher-like slab. In the far corner, another on bubbled, only something floated in the midst of it. Was that what he thought it was?

It was. A single body of an indigenous species hovered around the middle of the liquid, lifeless and limp. Kirk felt as if he'd throw up. He was as disgusted with the sight as he was with the nature of it. He knew it wasn't voluntary. _One of those sadistic lizard things is responsible._

"Look at that. A transporter pad." Hearing his superior officer, Spock followed his gesture to see a flat, roughly circular platform by the far wall.

"If we alert the Gorn of our presence, they will beam into this room and attack. Their numbers will be too great for us to overcome." Spock's lips were tight.

Though Kirk didn't think _that_ was a foregone conclusion, he did not get this far because he ran into gunfire for fun or welcome danger needlessly. "Then we've got to move, and fast." There was a brief silence as an initiate patrolled into the room, smelled the air, looked around and left. The two Starfleet officers readied their rifles and walked out of the room trailing the Gorn.

Kirk pointed his rifle up, moved the Gorn into his scope, and fired. The creature groaned and collapsed forward. Both officers ran for cover, anticipating a violent response that never came. Down the way they came, a single initiate walked on three of its four legs, the other with a ravager in hand. Kirk aimed and fired, blasting the curious creature back. To their left, two more Gorn, identical to the first two, came closer, obviously curious of the noise. Once they saw their fallen comrades, it would be around two seconds before Gorn were everywhere. Neither the Captain nor his first officer wanted to wait for that inevitability. Red and blue hand phaser bolts downed both attackers. With both ears, the alert Captain could make out the familiar energy surges and guttural noises and vocalizations. Gorn were beaming in from both directions.

 _Here we go_ , Kirk told himself. A silent communication of eyes meeting was all that was needed. The few containers and consoles around them were their only hope of cover from the Gorn onslaught. Moving quickly, reaching in for every bit of Starfleet expertise he could muster, mixed with determination and will, Kirk utilized his full arsenal at his disposal to fight of his attackers. The Gorn seemed to move in groups of three; initiate, enforcer, defence drone. A few rogue initiates added to the confusion.

The loud bang of a stun grenade from an enforcer's gun sent Kirk and Spock flying back. Both sets of ears rang, making locating their enemies difficult. Not for long, however. Spock was fuelled by everything Kirk was, and something more than that.

 _Anger._ They had attacked the one safe haven his people had left. They had attacked an innocent crew onboard Frontier Starbase, and from what he saw in the meld, countless other entire races. It tapped into something he had only lost control of when his world was lost. His emotions. His human half.

One Gorn fell from a hail of red beams, another was blown back by heavy repeater fire. A third one died when a grenade stuck to its chest, taking out the drone beside it as well. Overwhelmed by the numbers, shots got through, searing and burning Vulcan and Human limbs while damaging consoles and supply containers alike.

Two initiates came up on Kirk's flanks. Slamming an elbow into one creature, he used his weapon to smash another, shoving it over with the heel of his boot. Left and right he fired until both Gorn soldiers stopped moving, resting still in their own blood.

When an enforcer got close, Spock swiftly moved in and wrenched the weapon from its hands. Spock drove knee hard against the Gorn's stomach, following it up with a cross check with his rifle. Flipping the weapon to point at his downed enemy. A high powered blast of a rifle sent an enforcer flying with a screech, another grenade lobbed from Kirk's hand against a crate, blowing it and yet another initiate to oblivion. Gorn and drones dropped left and right as Spock and Kirk moved away from their precarious position.

When the last of the Gorn smoke grenade fog cleared and the last shot fired, Kirk stepped out into view, observing the crowd of Gorn corpses around him. Stepping over burnt scales and ownerless weapons, Kirk and Spock scooped up some plasma grenades and holstered the ammunition. Down a dark hallway, at Kirk's request, Spock hacked into a turret's controls on the wall near a giant circular class window webbed with metal. Once it was properly reprogrammed and safe to pass, the two officers raced around the left arcing turn in the hall and up a ramp. Through the doors, Kirk laid eyes on another tank, again with a single floating indigenous inside.

 _Is that their idea of fine decor?_ Every time he thought he'd seen the worst of what the Gorn were capable of, they always managed to surprise him. And not in a good way. Kirk made a face that suggested to Spock that he was on the verge of losing his lunch. Through doors, up another hall, and into a small room with assorted computer stations and crates. Kirk was sure that this was control room.

"There it is."

"You are correct." Spock said, indicating at a station by the window. "We can disable the tower's defences here, sir."

Finally they were getting somewhere. Tapping into the Gorn's main security system, Spock's hands flew around as they had several times before, amazing his Captain and anyone else if they had watched. Kirk tried in vain to match his companion's speed, but still managed to provide some assistance. As he had watched Spock manipulate advanced Romulan technology from another universe back at Earth, once again the Vulcan worked away with the same skill and determination.

"Okay, seriously. How are you _doing_ this?" Kirk could only grasp the very basic Gorn tech. Though Spock had a brilliant Vulcan mind, Kirk knew even _he_ had his limits.

"To be honest, Captain, most of what I am doing is on conjecture. I am familiar with some of their basic commands, only insofar as they resemble similar technology of other races Starfleet has encountered. With Mister Scott's analysis and my repeated experiences with the Gorn's command consoles since we arrived at New Vulcan, I recognize similar base strings of code. Thus I can..." He paused, watching out the yellow glass as the defensive tower's golden force field blinked out.

Spock tipped his head to the side. "The shields are open, Captain."

Satisfaction welled up in the younger man. It didn't last long. A winged transport ship lowered to the ground outside, releasing more Gorn soldiers. _Crap._ Obviously, they were aware that something had happened. _Did they react to the shields dropping, or a distress signal?_

Kirk huffed. Did they know their entire security center had been cleared of personnel?

The muscular enforcer pointed and barked orders at two initiates that ducked their heads down in a show of submission. Like wolves, their tails tucked between their legs. A single Gorn female, an observer, as Scotty called this type, looked on.

"Looks like the only way out is up." Kirk eyed the tower, ignoring the lizard things. He tried to estimate the height they'd have to climb.

"Indeed." The Vulcan was considering the tower, already trying to locate potential weak spots.

"You think we have enough charges?"

"Our supply should be sufficient." Spock peered into his pack, checking the semi-spherical device.

Kirk unlocked the hatch in the floor. "Then let's get to it."


	13. Chapter 13

_Chapter 11_

 _Stardate 2259.33_

 _Gorn Planet –Gorn Secure Facility_

Down into the well lit tunnel, Kirk opened a vent and crawled through the cramped shaft. As the other end unlocked and Kirk crawled out, the roaring noise preceded the massive ship as it flew away over a rise of cliffs. Evading Gorn eyes, the two lowered beside an orange rail. The substance, Kirk found, was not in fact glass as he suspected, but some resilient material. The enforcer, stalking around, breathed heavily and raggedly as always. Kirk picked him, the closest and deadliest, as the first to go.

Before the deceased creature even hit the ground, every other one reacted. The female threw down a glowing black orb and ducked into cover. In seconds, three initiates joined the two already manoeuvring around, setting up behind anything they could to shoot at the two invading Starfleet officers. It was as if he'd pulled the fire alarm. Both men changed positions.

A yellow beam shot past Kirk's head. Whipping around, he quickly scanned the cliff face a distance away, locating the scout that had shot at him. Two quick bursts of his rifle neutralized the threat. Spock was busy shooting at an initiate who seemed to evade his fire. All of his shots were carefully considered. Finally, one hit the mark.

Kirk leaned the barrel of his rifle on the rail. A second initiate came running toward them. Kirk picked it off with a single powerful blast. Third one. _No problem._ A shot and a screech, followed by silence.

Kirk jumped over the rail and landed off-balance. Staggering forwards, he sought cover behind a crate, only to be surprised by a waiting initiate on his right. It drew its lips upward in a sneer and pumped energy at Kirk's midsection. Pain radiated through his chest and he collapsed to the ground, hand covering the sore area. "I'm down, Commander, help!" Kirk sucked in a painful, shallow breath.

Spock's heart rate kicked up a notch. His eyes and rifle flew to the creature aiming at his Captain.

Kirk scrambled for his phaser. He knew the Gorn was about to shoot again.

A rifle blast punctured the attacker's chest, sending it flopping backward. Spock sprinted towards Kirk and slid in next to him just as a zing of energy shot above his head. The Vulcan assessed his friends injuries.

"It is not serious."

Kirk grit his teeth together. "Feels...pretty serious...to me."

Spock pulled out a hypo spray and administered the dosage into the Captain's "patient" hissed at the slight pain. Quickly, his breathing began to regulate and his face relaxed.

Spock killed another initiate hiding up ahead as Kirk struggled into a standing position. On his left, a suspicious rock formation caught his eye. _Come out, come out, wherever you are..._ Sure enough, his tricorder revealed a single observer crouching like an offensive lineman behind the tall obstacle. _Worked for me; won't for you._ He reached for a grenade and hurled it over the top. The creature barely had time to utter a single sound before the grenade eliminated its life sign readings from Spock's tricorder. Blood sprayed the wall nearby.

Spock raised an eyebrow. "Quite a surprise." Neither Kirk nor Spock took any pleasure in killing Gorn, or anything for that matter. Given the choice between the Gorn's deaths or their own, their crews, an ultimately their galaxy's, it was a pretty easy decision. After all, Spock believed in one solid truth.

 _The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few._ By far, this time. The Gorn's only need, as it seemed, was to take over as many planets, and kill as many people as they could. From the mindmeld, he had detected the Gorn's feelings at the moment of Surok's killing. No negative emotions to the horrible thing he was doing. It didn't care.

The Vulcan stopped his captain with a hand. "Yet another one appears."

Kirk looked toward the tower's base. An enforcer and a defensive drone beamed onto a transporter platform. Kirk looked through his rifle sight, zooming in until he could clearly see its face through the smoke bomb it'd thrown down. Kirk waited a second before pulling the trigger. The drone exploded with another blast.

At the base of the tower, both Starfleet officers craned their necks to size up the massive structure. An access ladder ran up the front. Kirk bounced up and down on the balls of his feet. Spock stared for a moment before stretching his arms, bending at the elbows and reaching back over his head.

"Long climb ahead. How are your arms doing?" Kirk asked between breaths.

"I believe I can continue unaffected."

The corners of Kirk's mouth curved up. "First one to the top wins?"

"That ladder is too narrow. We cannot possibly-" Spock paused mid-stretch. "Ah. An attempt at humour."

"You got it." Kirk stepped forward and grasped a rung of the ladder.

 **...**

 _Stardate 2259.33_

 _USS Enterprise – Bridge_

The shuttle was damaged, and the Captain and first officer were off fighting the Gorn. It was nothing he didn't expect. The doctor's summary of events leading up to the crash had been grim, but that was not what had him in dismay.

Scotty listened to the information relayed by Doctor McCoy to Lieutenant Uhura. According to him, they had found out reason the indigenous Lymax weren't prepared for the harsh mountain weather. They had been driven there by the Gorn's attack force.

 _"_ _It was pretty obvious, actually. Minimal body hair and fat; their relatively light attire; simple living quarters-"_ McCoy counted each point on his fingers. _"Add that all up and what do you get? Plains dwellers."_ He rubbed the back of his neck with one hand. _"They're out of their element. Have to learn new skills to survive. You gotta admire their resilience."_

"And they're encountering things they might not even have words for," Uhura added. Sheleaned forward and folded her hands on her lap, shaking her head. "As sad as it may be, the Gorn have actually contributed to their development as a civilization. I just wish it didn't come at such a high cost."

 _"_ _That's not the way I'd look at it."_ McCoy grumbled. _"They've been stomped on. Crushed. Beaten. Those Gorn come in, guns blazing on a peaceful civilization that can't fight back! Their idea of a deadly weapon is a crossbow!"_

"I know that!" Realizing her voice was loud enough to be heard across the room, she lowered it. "I've been looking over the research we've got on them."

 _"_ _We?"_

"Scotty and I."

A sigh. McCoy leaned against the side of the shuttle, a tool in hand. "Go on."

The communications officer tapped the screen and summarized the findings. "We've determined that they are hunter-gatherers, much like earlier Native Americans. It appears they still haven't developed agriculture. They live in extended families, and appear to take special care of both the very young and very old."

"They're like us, from a long time ago. Incredible to think about, really." Scott's tone changed from hopeful to grim. "But now look what has happened."

 _"_ _Yeah, what a contrast between them and the Gorn."_ McCoy clenched his fists. _"Bloodthirsty-"_

 _"_ _Doctor?"_ Another voice chimed in, slightly muffled over the comm.

"What? Oh, here you go." McCoy handed the tool down to an arm reaching up from the ground.

Sulu smiled as he clutched the device. "Thanks, I could really use your help down here."

"Oh, okay, one moment." The doctor's voice became louder again. _"Uhura, I've got to go now. Sulu needs help."_ McCoy called out.

Uhura's finger poised over the comm button. "How are the shuttle repairs coming?"

"They're going alright, I guess." Sulu sat up, looking over the exposed shuttle innards."I've got a lot to do, however. I'm still replacing burnt out circuitry." He said, tensing up at another gust of cold air.

Chekov vacated his console and made his way to the communications station. _"How bad is it, Sulu?"_

The helmsman turned pilot turned engineer took a sip of water from a small bottle he had. "One of the nacelles is completely shot out. It _is_ salvageable, but it's a lot of work for four non-engineers."

Chekov spoke a bit louder. "But it _is_ fixable. I mean, you will be back soon. The rip is only going to be there for so long, and I _wery_ much want to have everybody back onboard when we leave."

"Don't worry, Chekov. I'm sure I can have it done _long_ before it the singularity shuts." Sulu got up and walked around back of the shuttle, climbing inside to its welcoming warm interior.

"Still, we could really use another pair of hands. How about it, Scotty? You game?" McCoy suggested, smiling at the loaded question. He knew the answer.

"I'd like to help, but with those Gorn..."His voice fell quiet. "I'd best stay here. No sense risking getting detected by them."

Uhura cut in before McCoy could respond. "Listen, you guys promise to stay safe down there. Will you tell the others for me?"

 _"_ _I will. Thanks for everything, guys, we'll check in later. McCoy out."_ The communicator channel cut out. Chekov shared a look with Uhura. She placed a hand on the young man's shoulder.

"It's going to be fine, Pavel." She offered a weak smile. It was all she could muster, considering the fact that she was having a hard time believing her own words.

"Thank you, Uhura. If you say it will be, then I believe it." With that, Chekov walked back to his station in front of the viewscreen.

The engineer put his hands on his hips. With each passing moment, the _Enterprise_ was vulnerable to a surprise attack, though still under the protection of the rip's interference. They were the prey, and the fleet of Gorn ships around the planet were the predators. To make matters worse, some of the crew was still down on the planet, and the two highest ranking officers were on their own against vicious Gorn attackers.

Scott tsked. "Scattered all over the place. How are you supposed to keep _anybody_ safe that way?"

Uhura looked away from the paused program screen. "Recon. The more we know, the more we can do. For now, 'they also serve who only stand and wait.'" Despite her calm demeanour, her thoughts and emotions were anywhere but on the bridge.

"Yeah, well...a little less waiting and a little more _doing_ would be nice." Striding back to the command chair he was unfamiliar and uncomfortable with, Scott sat down and straightened his back. "I suppose a bit of stargazing in the meantime wouldn't hurt; we're unlikely to come this way again in the near future."

Scott turned to the screen, watching the planet instead of the multitude of stars blinking in the darkness of space.

 **...**

 _Stardate 2259.33_

 _Gorn Planet – Security Tower_

The climb had been long and rugged, but Kirk and Spock found themselves at the ladder's top. Climbing onto a large platform, the two men moved forward, quickly locating a suitable site to place the explosive device. Underneath the wall, the power and fuel coursed through the main lines leading up to the tower's upper section and the finger-like gun turret many meters overhead that had shot down their shuttleearlier. Eliminating the security was step one to securing the device and getting off the planet.

While Kirk scouted the area, Spock strode toward the wall. He did not know how long they had before more Gorn moved in on them, so everything was rushed. Kirk could not remember the last time his heart or lungs had been able to calm down to a normal rhythm for more than two minutes at a time.

Sticking the foot-wide, white explosive on the tower's side along the weak point, Spock quickly tapped away at the central touch screen, inputting the pass code and then arming the device. His finger moved in a circular motion around the outside, initiating the countdown sequence before detonation. The device began beeping, counting down from ten seconds.

"Let's get the hell out of here!" Kirk yelled, turning to run. Spock whipped around and sprinted to the edge of the platform.

"Right behind you, sir!" Both men threw themselves off the edge, diving straight downward. Above them, the tower exploded with a loud boom. Several other power fuelled explosions followed, fragmenting the structure and completely disabling it.

Kirk was in the lead of Spock, though just barely. Bowing his shoulders and head, Kirk avoided two stone arches, only to be met seconds later by a hail of gun fire. Several initiates took pot shots at the two officers as they went by, forcing them to duck and swerve to avoid getting shot, or worse, getting the flight suits damaged and losing control.

Through two caves, almost pitch darkness changed to bright sunlight. Water splashed up from the wide open river, the rushing current with them. Kirk rapidly adjusted his flight path. The damaged, multi-levelled wooden bridge ahead spanned across the white water, with ropes for added support between levels. In the tangled, damaged mess, there would only be a small margin of error if Kirk hoped to get through.

Gritting his teeth and squinting his eyes, he leaned gently right, whipping between two walkways. Spock raised high over the obstacle, dropping down gradually as he cleared it. The river suddenly dropped off, forming a roaring waterfall into an even deeper gorge. Both officers dipped hard along the flow of the water, feeling the refreshing spray of water again on their faces.

A massive arch on rock covered in Gorn initiates stood armed and ready to fire. It was certain death. An airstrike would help, but in order to take the attackers out, they needed coordinates. In a fluid motion, the Vulcan tucked his arms in and rotated sideways, then grabbed his tricorder from his belt and flipped back around, webbing spread, having just done a three-sixty turn. Finding the coordinates, he shouted into his comm, attempting to be heard over the roaring river and rushing air.

"Enterprise, we need air assistance. Lock onto coordinates two-three-eight by four-four-nine-one!"

Kirk shook off his initial amazement at his first officer's nearly impossible manoeuvre, and took over. " _Enterprise_ , launch torpedoes on my mark!"

Scotty's voice answered back sharply. "Armed and ready, Captain!"The ensign at Sulu's usual spot waited tentatively for the go ahead from his commanding officer. Kirk barked his response.

"FIRE!"

In seconds, several torpedoes demolished the curved rock formation with explosive force and sending the Gorn initiate fighters into the river. Swerving to avoid the collapsing arch and falling rocks off the side of the gorge's cliffside, Spock searched for an ideal landing spot. To the left, three more Gorn fired at and missed the Human and Vulcan projectiles.

Both moved through another short cave system with several rocky pillars inside, Kirk veering right, Spock veering left. _Got it._ Kirk saw a hole leading into a rock face. Gorn were everywhere, on foot and overhead in winged ships. This was where he planned to lose them.

"Head for the cave, Spock!" The two disappeared into the dark tunnel, evading the incoming Gorn initiates nearby and vanishing from all Gorn scanners.

 **...**

 _Stardate 2259.33_

 _Gorn Planet – Tunnels_

On the other side of the tunnel, the _Enterprise_ captain found himself and his second-in-command in what looked like a different world. He hadn't noticed until now that this was no longer the icy cold weather that had greeted him upon arrival. It was warm, and moist. The flora was much more prevalent, and in a higher variety. The large open space they stood in allowed the bright light from the planet's lone sun to illuminate the area.

"Enterprise, your assistance is...much appreciated. Thanks." Kirk's breathing was still excited. His mind drifted back to the close call they just had.

 _"_ _Captain, we're seeing a lot of Gorn activity out here."_ Uhura scrutinized the minimized display on the right hand corner of her screen. More small icons were appearing on scanners, moving erratically around the planet. _"I think our torpedoes may have alarmed them."_

"Have you been spotted?" Spock's arms crossed over his chest. His mouth tightened. He and Kirk were fortunate to be even hearing the communication through the interference, but the talented officer in charge of communications utilized her expertise to create an encrypted tight beam that brought in the words as clearly as possible. No matter what the response to the inquiry, it would be loud and clear to both men on the ground.

Silence. _"Negative, sir."_ Chekov watched the same larger view at his station. Their ship was still fully surrounded by waves emanating from the singularity. _"The interference from the rip has kept us hidden. But I don't know for how much longer."_

Watching from the command chair, Scott had been frowning the whole time hearing this. _"Hey...guys? Happy for you to continue the small talk, but the longer you keep chattin', the more likely those things'll spot us. And I for one would prefer not getting into a full on battle again up here."_

 _He's right_ , Kirk thought. If any communication was intercepted by Gorn forces, they would both be located in no time. He did not want his ship to become a flying target.

"Understood, Mister Scott. We're going silent. Try to remain safe up there."

 _"_ _Thanks, Captain,"_ the engineer responded. A second later, the communicator went dead, leaving the two commanding officers alone. pock noticed the concerned look on the Captain's face as he stared down at the silent communication device, as though he had just lost contact permanently.

"Captain, they are a very capable crew. I am sure that they can handle whatever situation may present itself." Spock was firm in his belief, but the faintest look in his eyes could give away his concern for the crew, and one in particular.

"I hope you're right, Spock." It wasn't a lack of confidence in his crew that made Kirk worry. Most of them were still the same people that had been hand-picked by the then Captain Pike. The _Enterprise_ was Starfleet's flagship, and therefore got only the best recruits from that year's graduating class. But with the number of Gorn attackers out there...

Changing his thought process, Kirk took in his surroundings. The extremely high, moss-covered rock walls on three sides ruled out walking out or finding any pathways around it. Behind them, a wide pool of calm green water lapped onto the rocks nearby. The rusted out skeleton of a large Gorn craft was almost embedded into the ground. At first look, it seemed climbing was the only way they were getting out of there.

Spock walked slowly along, taking in every detail in the sparse plant life. Grasses, flowers and debris littered the muddy ground they walked on. But no way to proceed any further. This was troubling.

Both officers halted in front of a stagnant pool of water. Metal plates, beams and containers bobbed gently in the ripples. Spock's brow rose as an idea popped into his head. Kirk could hear the distant sounds of Gorn fighters. They were definitely on high alert after the sabotage he and Spock had performed on their security building.

"This planet is crawling with Gorn. How are we going to get through?"

"Readings indicate that there is a subterranean system leading directly into this main encampment." The Vulcan studied a grid pattern outlining a tunnel below the water's surface.

 _Swimming._ Kirk enjoyed going for a dip, but not in dirty, wreckage-filled water. Who knew what else was in there? _Yuck_."Do your readings indicate whether or not I'm gonna regret going that way?"He parted a few bright pink reeds.

"They do not, sir." Spock responded as though it was any other question.

Kirk shrugged. "Well, I guess it can't be much worse than out here." Taking a few tentative steps backwards, he hesitated before running forward and leaping in the water. Emerging a second later through orange scum, he looked back at his first officer.

"See you on the other side of this thing." Spock nodded and backed up as the Captain paddled through the murky waters. For as long as he could, he kept his head above water. The wall in front of him finally forced him to duck under the surface. A deep inhale, a quick move to place his goggles on, and he sunk.

The first thing to register was a mine a few feet away. _Really? Booby trapping tunnels?_ The Gorn were nothing, if not thorough. Disabling it remotely, he moved on, alert for more. Hopefully he'd find them before they found him or Spock.

Besides the debris and the mines, Kirk found interesting types of life that managed to survive in the dark cave waters. A luminescent type of seaweed, a bushy plant, a small group of skittish fish.A chill up his spine brought him back to his mission.

 _Air. Need air._ As if by miracle, the glistening beams from the sun illuminated the water just ahead. Kicking harder and pumping his arms faster, he swam toward the rays. Surfacing in a small chamber, he noticed a circular hole in the ceiling allowing light in. Spock surfaced seconds later. Both men moved to the water's edge and pulled themselves up onto a chunk of metal. Spock adjusted his belt, revealing a sample of a spherical, tri-layered underwater plant Kirk had seen just earlier.

Orange and red flower-like leaves smattered the ground. Tangled flowering plants, and more vibrant pink reeds. None of these life forms made any sense, and would be a scientific fascination if they had time. They didn't.

"A little chilly, but that wasn't _so_ bad." The captain shivered, sliding the goggles off his face. His suit kept his body warm, but his face was red from the cold swim. He began to side step through the narrow crack in the wall.

Spock hesitated, knowing the news he bore was not going to be received well. "We have yet to make it through all the caves, sir."

Kirk stopped cold and looked back. "Ah, you're kidding me, right? There's _more_?" He rolled his eyes, resuming his course through. _Might as well get this over with._ As Spock emerged safely on the other side of the wall, Kirk ran for and jumped into the next pool of water.

More debris, circular components and beams. A narrow passage made Kirk ever so slightly nervous as he skimmed through. He could see the dark path ahead would take too long to traverse. He needed an air pocket. Rising into a circular column, sunlight greeted his thankful eyes as he broke the surface and took in a deep breath. Spock was to his left, his breathing slow and steady.

"Spock, look at this." Kirk noted some wires leading into the wall.

"Interesting. I would advise precaution. It appears the Gorn have infiltrated these tunnels as well." Spock put a hand on the thick black cords.

The two officers took deep breaths and dropped back under. Disabling mines, avoiding debris and tangled plant life was a bit of a struggle, but in moments the two officers had mastered it. Swimming a distance before rising into a second column to find air, Vulcan and Human moved in haste, taking in fresh air before kicking back down. Up a rise, more narrow tunnels forced the two to enter in single file, gliding past metallic platforms and vertical pipes.

A divide in the path. Both men disabled the many proximity triggered mines on either side stuck to the walls. Turning the corner, Kirk felt his lungs starting to hurt from continually holding it in. The exit was just ahead, his tricorder could see it.

The waters ahead were pitch dark brown. No light. Kirk's eyes widened. He consulted his tricorder with urgency. It said there was a hole, but he could see none. Spock floated beside him, looking from left to right quickly.

Legs and arms ached as the muscles started to require fresh oxygen. Kirk struggled to compose himself. There wasn't time to turn back. They had to get out, but all they saw was solid rock ceiling. Forward was the only way.

Harder, faster, both men willed their limbs to propel them forward. In a moment of urgency, the younger officer poked his head up to the darkness. There was no resistance, only a rush of cold.

Throwing his head back, Kirk filled his chest with air that felt like the most wonderful thing he'd ever had. Truth be told, he could have stood it a while longer. But who would want to? His first officer popped up beside him, taking in a few sharp, deep breaths.

 **...**

 _Stardate 2259.33_

 _USS Enterprise_

Scotty sat back, watching the view screen as he had been for the past twenty minutes. His mind circulated thoughts of the shuttle crew, the Gorn, and the poor indigenous Lymax who were being massacred by the reptilian creatures that now posed a threat to the galaxy as they knew it.

Breaking the silence drew some glances from the bridge crew, who were now on edge. "Mister Chekov, how much longer have we got before our only hope of escape closes?"

The nervous Russian stared at his instruments. "About four and a half hours, sir. _If_ it doesn't change its current rate."

"Captain, should we pull back a little more? It might give us more cover from the interference." An African woman at the helms position asked, looking back at Scott as the last word exited her mouth.

 _Captain._ Scotty would have liked hearing that title if it wasn't for the Gorn, or the Captain and First officer weren't missing. "Nae, hold our current position. I want the shuttle to get back here fast as possible. No use giving them a longer journey back."

"We've got several more enemy fighters dropping from warp, all the same size and configuration." An officer called over his shoulder from behind the chief.

The man in the command chair only nodded. The whole situation bothered him. _Calm down, Scott. You got a ship to take care of._ Another look up from a hand over his face at the planet.

A frown. He just couldn't contain himself. Getting up and moving to the communications station, he saw Uhura working at her controls, clearly as distracted as the rest of the crew. "Lieutenant, do you ever wonder whether or not we have the right idea?"

Coming suddenly out of her many thoughts, she addressed the chief. "Hmmm?"

His voice lowered. "I mean, the Prime Directive. We try our best to avoid interfering in other races growth and development. But what do we do when people like the Lymax are being stomped on? Nothing."

Uhura sighed, rubbing her temples. "It is a tragedy, what's happened to them. No of us like to be witness to this. But in this case, we _can't_ intervene because we have no time. If we don't get the device back, the Gorn will do this to _everyone_."

Scott exhaled. "I know, lassie, I know." He followed her gaze to the screen.

"But I still kinna feel any better about what's going on out there." His eyes showed sorrow and hopelessness for the defenceless indigenous people they had just met.

 **...**

 _Stardate 2259.33_

 _Gorn Planet –Northern Region_

 _Mountain Range_

Stepping into the shuttle, Sulu regarded the Doctor intently gazing into a microscope.

"How goes the work?" The helmsman smiled, sliding in beside Hendorff and Donovan to grab a quick bite to eat.

McCoy was quiet, carefully moving his arm to guide a tool safely into its place, still eyeing the sample of the disease. Straightening up, he exhaled hard and wiped his forehead with a sleeve. A smile graced his face.

"Good." He nodded, taking the breaths he'd held while he delicately added test vaccines into samples of the Gorn virus. "I think I'm onto something. A cure might not be too far off."

A corner poked up the corner of Donovan's mouth. He raised a glass. "Let's hear it for the Doctor." Three of the four shuttle occupants gave a quiet cheer.

"Now, now, I'm not done yet. There's still lots to do." McCoy looked as tired as e sounded. "But, I need food." As he reached for his energy bar, his eyes shifted back to the virus. There was a point, earlier, that he had dedicated himself to finding the disease, no matter how long it took. His stomach, however, had different ideas. As much as he told himself it'd only be a moment, he felt guilty for stopping.

"I'll help." Hendorff put up a hand. "I'm no doctor, but I have no other pressing matters. Can't fight against the cold or the snow."

"Thanks, but I'm alright." McCoy eased himself into his seat. "How's our shuttle, Sulu?"

"You don't need to keep asking, doctor. I'll tell you if we can get airborne." He stopped, taking a bite of his bar. "But, it is coming along nicely."

"You never ask us how we're going." Donovan mused. The larger, stronger security officer put an arm around his friend, grinning.

"How would we answer? 'Oh, yeah we're going...back and forth, back and forth, still nothing, oh hey! Time to go back into the shuttle for warmth'!"

There was a brief moment of laughter and interspersed chatter. A faint but distinct noise made Sulu start, shushing the others down.

"Did you hear that?" He looked toward the back door.

McCoy shook his head. "Oh, come on, Sulu. You can't scare us _that_ easily." Upon seeing his friend's expression not changing, his grin became a frown. "What? What is it?"

"Listen!" Sulu strained to whisper loudly. The four men were now focused on listening. Sulu moved toward the back hatch, prompting the others to get up and tail behind. The sound repeated again. It was a guttural noise.

Opening the hatch, Sulu peered out into the harsh cold of the outside area. Nothing. He got up, determined to investigate. The snow had stopped blowing as much, but it was still just as cold.

"Maybe it was the wind, or-" Hendorff froze. Standing just meters away was a single Gorn. Its blue skin and sleek, slender body stood out against the white and brown background. They looked right into each other's eyes.

"Get down!"

Using the shuttle as cover, the four officers ducked out of sight. The confused Gorn female held a long, thin weapon in her hands. It was only seconds before she had it raised and ready to fire in their direction.

"Damn it, they're here, too!" A panicked Doctor shouted, whipping out his tricorder.

"It just appeared from nowhere! On some energy beam, maybe a transporter?" The younger of the security officers responded, just as freaked out. The first shots fired over their heads. Return fire from the Starfleet officers was inaccurate, though it _was_ hard to aim when you knew what Gorn weapons could do to a human body. Being a red shirt, Hendorff was _really_ not interested in becoming a statistic or a cautionary tale.

Yanking the hand phaser from his utility belt, Sulu prepared to reveal himself longer enough to shoot. _Here we go, Hikaru. Just focus, one shot..._ On his right, the security guards tried to reach for their phaser rifles, while McCoy seemed curious with the readings he was getting in.

Moving laterally crouched and low, Sulu counted down in his mind. _3...2...1...Go!_ With lightning speed, he appeared from behind their craft, unleashing a blue beam at the female. With a guttural rattle she collapsed into the snow. It didn't move.

Getting up cautiously, Hendorff's eyes flipped between his pilot and the downed reptile. "Nice shot, Sulu!"

Sulu nodded, not taking his gaze off the Gorn. "It was nothing." McCoy ran forward, his arms pumping. The protruding stomach was an unusual characteristic for the otherwise lean Gorn. Gritting his teeth and staring down at the limp form, McCoy's fear had become reality.

"I need my med kit, stat!"

Hendorff's face scrunched. "Your _med kit!?_ I thought you'd want a rock to hit it with."

McCoy huffed and stepped toward Hendorff, glaring. "That Gorn is female. Not only that, but she's pregnant with octuplets." The others gathered around the doctor as he continued. "Thanks to that stun shot, she's going into convulsions. Her biology isn't suited for this environment, either. Momma and babies will all die if we don't do something."

Donovan tilted his head to the side, placing a hand on the panicked southerner's shoulder. "Doctor, are you sure we should do this? If that Gorn showed up, more could be coming. We should hunker down in the shuttle and prepare to defend ourselves!"

McCoy would not be dissuaded. His voice climbed another few decibels. "Did you _not_ just hear me? They will _die_! I know that these Gorn are savage, brutal bastards who wouldn't care if any of us lived or died. In fact, they'd probably prefer it." He leaned in, putting a finger into the security officer's chest. "But I am a _doctor_ , and it'll be a dark day before I let babies freeze in the cold, no matter who they are!"

The officer receiving the tongue lashing simply acknowledged his superior officer and backed away, replaced by Sulu holding the med kit. "Here you go. What do you need us to do?"

"Hendorff, help me get her to the shuttle." McCoy waved him forward.

A shocked face. "You want us to put a _Gorn_ in the damn shuttle?!"

"Yes, so _I_ don't freeze instead." Three of the four men manoeuvred the limp female into the craft and set her down on the floor. Reaching for the med kit Sulu held, McCoy pulled out a hypo spray and injected the female with general anaesthetic. Normally, the doctor would be appalled by the idea of performing operations and procedures that involved cutting up the patient. It was, in his opinion, just gruesome.

Still, with all the medical advances Starfleet and humanity in general had made, they still needed to perform open-body operations on occasion. McCoy had some experience in the matter. When he felt ready, he began the procedure.

"We have to act quickly before the creatures inside deteriorate. Give me the laser scalpel, we've got to do a C-section!" McCoy fumbled with the tool, then breathed and steadied his hand. As the focused red beam made its way across the smooth abdomen, yellow blood trickled out.

Sulu became slightly nervous. "Why would the babies 'deteriorate'? Don't lizards lay eggs?"

" _Normal_ ones do. These give birth live." Now the doctor was intently focusing on separating the muscle tissue to access the womb. A bulge poked out of the side of the fleshy organ, making him withdraw his hand momentarily. Sulu winced, while Hendorff placed a hand on his stomach.

"I've just got to carefully open the wall of the womb, and then I can reach in..." He trailed off, while the others handed him tools when he reached. As the organ began to open under the focused scalpel beam, McCoy saw movement.

A pair of jaws snapped at the doctor's hand, causing him to let out a cry and yank his hand back. A clawed hand swung through the air. McCoy fell backward from his squatting position onto his backside. Snickers erupted from the other three shuttle crewmen.

"Dammit!" McCoy shook his hand as if in pain, then checked it for bite marks. All ten fingers were still in place. No broken skin. His frustrated glare went toward Sulu, then Hendorff then Donovan. All three began laughing, while McCoy simply stared at the tiny, big eyed, slimy Gorn with jaws that still reached out in vain for his hand.

"That's not funny! The little bastard nearly mutilated my hand!" The doctor's anger did not stop the chortling amongst his friends.

Sulu tried hard to suppress a wide grin. "Almost became finger food. How are they, doctor?" He tilted his head at the bulging adult Gorn's abdomen, now open.

"Perfectly healthy! Damn little things tricked the tricorder, I'll bet." He wiped his face with a sleeve. "Alright, I'm going to seal it up now. Mother and children are going to be just fine. We need to get the children sedated, and then we're moving the adult with them to a cave nearby." Carefully, he gave the adult a sedative, in moments affecting the babies inside. The jostling slowed, allowing McCoy to reach in and extract each of the eight small reptiles.

"We'll be careful when we set them down." Hendorff nodded. The doctor looked at him with amazement, trying to process this sudden change of attitude.

 _Interesting._ McCoy smiled slightly. "What's given you the sudden change of heart, G.P.?"

"It's what we have to do. We're Starfleet, not Gorn militia." Hendorff said as he knelt to meet his doctor's eye – level "My honour wouldn't allow me to kill an unconscious opponent. I wouldn't hurt her. That's not who we are." His gaze shifted to the still creature.

"That's who _they_ are."

 **...**

 _Stardate 2259.33_

 _Gorn Planet - Tunnels_

The semi-lit open area in the rocks was a welcome site. Cold and wet, Kirk climbed onto solid ground and stiffened up. His eyebrows lowered as he pursed his lips tightly together.

Kirk lifted a boot, shaking off a strand of seaweed. "I'm getting a little tired of the water thing, Spock. Next time, let's go down the _dry_ tunnel." The blackish-grey ground sloped downward toward several jagged stalactites and stalagmites. Kirk scanned several that seemed to have joined together in the middle.

Looking down at the sudden drop off, Kirk stepped back and stamped his foot once, mashing some yellow lichen. _Just when I thought it couldn't..._ "Ahh, this just gets better and better."He let out a breath.

Spock peered over the ledge critically. "I do not believe it is that far to the bottom. It is hardly insurmountable."

Kirk could hear the distant dripping of water into a small puddle below. He rubbed his arms and shivered. His body was cold, tired and sore. One of the enemy's shots had got him in the chest, and it still ached now and then. By this point, he was really looking forward to getting back to the ship.

A purring noise. He lifted his head, trying to make out the source. _Was it..._ No. There was no way a tribble could survive on a planet full of hungry lizard beasts.

Sighing, he kicked at the ground, dislodging a clump of earth. Leaping over the side, he landed feet first onto a ledge of a wine glass-shaped formation. Pausing a few seconds, he jumped to the next lower ledge, and then onto the wall, climbing down the rest of the way. Spock chose the other wall for his descent, lowering himself fluidly to the ground, handhold by handhold.

"Always got to show me up, huh, Commander?" Kirk raised an eyebrow, smiling.

"I do not know what you are talking about." He didn't. The Vulcan was genuinely confused.

 _Right._ "Give me a boost." Kirk stepped onto Spock's interlaced hands as the Vulcan launched his Captain onto the ledge above. As Kirk pulled his partner up the side, the bloody corpse of a Gorn caught his eye. It was a warrior class. _How did that happen?_

Spock observed the copious amounts of blood on the tunnel walls. "A rather gruesome attack. This Gorn's death was quite violent. Its underside has been flayed, revealing its internal organs-"

"-okay, Spock. Enough with the anatomy lesson." Kirk put his hands up and shook his head, eyes closed. When they reopened, Spock was looking in wonder at his scanning device. Whenever the Vulcan was _that_ preoccupied, it was either really good news, or really bad news.

"Fascinating." He took a step forward, lips pursed in thought.

 _I hate it when he leaves it at that._ Kirk pressed a hand to the damp wall."I can only assume that's not good news."

"My tricorder readings indicate some kind of..." Spock's voice trailed off as he searched for the proper classification for the biosignatures he saw. Nothing came to mind.

"Lifeform?" Kirk supplied, glancing over in the direction he was looking.

Spock tilted his head to one side. "Yes, Captain. Some kind of lifeform."

"You think they're hostile?"

"Considering all we have been through, that _would_ be a logical conclusion." _Indigenous creatures notwithstanding..._ They followed the thin trail of Gorn blood up the tunnel. Another huge splatter decorated the left side of the cave wall. Kirk jerked his weapon up, reacting to various squeals and growls. Moving slowly, the two men scissor-stepped around the corner, approaching the sounds that seemed to get louder.

Three strange pink creatures were eating a second Gorn near the far right wall. They had large pincers on their mouths, and small oval-shaped bodies with four legs, the front two bent behind the back. Tails that were shaped like flowers waggled back and forth in rhythm. One of the creatures put two legs behind its head, rubbing them together to make a cricket-like noise. Upon seeing two foreign suited enemies facing them, they squealed and opened their tails like blooms. All three took off skittering quickly at Kirk and Spock.

Bringing his phaser up fast, Kirk let off several beams at the oncoming attackers. Shots missed and hit the mark, leaving the creatures destroyed on the ground.

Kirk shared a look with Spock. "Why don't we try to _avoid_ those things in the future?"

"A sound plan, sir." Spock responded, his head turning to the massacred Gorn a distance away. The insect-like pink lifeforms had eaten extremely messily.

The shafts ahead were a lot darker. Kirk strained in vain to see anything. There was, however, something that did stick out. Surrounded in red leaves, a mound of clay with a central hole sat sideways on the large curving wall.

"Whatever that is, that does not look good." The captain frowned. What could live in there?

"No sir. It does not." Spock said quietly. A single insect slithered out of the hole, regarding them with surprise. It squealed and took off toward Kirk.

"Let's get out of here!" Kirk fired and killed the creature, running off behind his XO into the dark tunnels ahead. Pausing behind a rock formation, the two caught their breaths. It was darker still, though silent. Neither knew how many other nests were there.

"I still can't see a damn thing." Kirk looked from behind his cover.

"We should use our tricorders to locate the creatures. It may give us an advantage."

"Good thinking." Kirk couldn't help but smile at his lapse in memory. _How could I possibly forget?_ It amazed him that there was a time when officers didn't have them. "How did _anyone_ ever get by without tricorders?"

On his scans, Spock observed the clay mounds. There were dozens all over the walls and ceiling. The now seemingly docile creatures were hanging around their dwellings, nibbling on plant life close by. "They seem to be protecting their nests. If we can stay clear, they may not attack us."

 _May not attack us._ Emphasis on the 'may'. Kirk didn't want to consider becoming like the Gorn he had seen.

Creeping quietly along the ground, captain and first officer crouched, evading light streaming in through ceiling holes, sticking to the cover of shadows. Listening for the sounds of attacking insects, Kirk cringed as another climbed out of a nest. Much to his relief, it began eating, completely unaware of his presence. Winding around rocky structures and steering clear of nests, they exited the massive two sided chamber in under a minute. Kirk stomped an insect walking across his path, keeping it from alerting the others.

After helping each other onto ledge, they crawled into a small, short and curving tunnel. The environmental suits swished up against the rough floor. Spock ducked his head down to avoid hitting the ceiling.

 _More water._ "Never thought I'd say this, but I'm actually looking _forward_ to getting back in the water." As much as the underwater tunnels were hazard filled, it wouldn't bite. _Those insects can't swim, right?_

In moments, the two officers made it through the dipped down tunnel. Breaking the surface, they strained slightly against the flowing current. The shallow stream meandered around a corner. Kirk pulled himself up onto the bank first. As Spock arrived behind him, the younger of the two men ushered the other into cover.

A snarling noise. Low and steady. Kirk could see a single flower-like insect crawling along the ground, and another shadowy figure lurking close by. Seeing the crouching quadruped, the insect reared up its tail and growled. Leaping from a higher ledge, a large, muscular creaturepouncedonto its prey, clutching it between powerful short jaws and shaking it back and forth violently. Blood flew as the comparatively smaller victim grew limp. Satisfied that its next meal was dead, the chunky animal took off carrying it away to where it could eat in peace. The noise of heavy breathing followed behind it.

"What the hell are those things?" Kirk gripped the edge of his hiding place as they observed two more creatures savagely ripping and tearing at some unfortunate animal they'd preyed on.

Spock's face was barely visible in the shadows. "They resemble some form of canine, and they appear to be quite hostile." The creatures, though mammals, were scarcely like canines at all. Their silver smooth bodies and black legs and head were not as noticeable as their T-shaped black rounded heads with fang-like tendrils hanging down. Then there were the small mouths with razor sharp teeth.

Kirk winced as the creatures licked their lips, revealing sharp teeth. As it continued to shred its unfortunate victim, the Captain looked back at his first officer. "What gives you _that_ idea, Spock? Oh, great...maybe _Bones_ can provide some more info."He reached for his comm, trying not to watch the scene before him, yet feeling oddly compelled to do so. Switching the device on, he grabbed his tricorder with the other hand, zeroing in on the creature's form. "Bones, Sulu, come in."

 _"_ _We're here, Captain."_ Sulu 's answer came quickly, as though he'd been waiting for their call.

"We're sending you a scan of some kind of...dog thing." Kirk tapped his scanning equipment once, relaying data to the shuttle craft.

 _"_ _Got the scan."_ McCoy studied the readings that played across his screen. _"Those things are indigenous to the planet and definitely not Gorn, but..."_ He frowned at the genetic marker chart. _"Their DNA seems to have been altered."_

"Altered?" Confusion etched Spock's face.

 _"_ _Yeah. They've been made more aggressive."_

 _Figures._ "Perfect. So they're basically really angry pit bulls." Raising his hand phaser, Kirk aimed at one of the two dogs who was now drinking at the stream. In a convulsive movement, the creature dropped after receiving the single high powered stun shot.

"What?" Kirk asked, observing the Vulcan's inquisitive stare.

"I thought you would have resorted to terminating the creatures."

Kirk's eyes fell. "I can't, Spock. All I can think about is the fact that they're dogs. They're just animals, and they've been 'altered'. They didn't choose this."

"A wise choice. One I am glad you've made." The two moved swiftly; after knocking the second one out, the officer's saw what they had been devouring; an indigenous. Focusing in on the targets, Kirk began knocking out the rest with focus beams of energy. Up of a rise, down by the water, one in a recessed portion of the rocky wall. Briefly he and Spock sought relief under one on the four waterfalls raining down from the roof. Over the rise, three more dogs rummaged about. After all were subdued, they quickly jogged through the shallow stream under a high metal bridge.

When Spock made sure the coast was clear, he tapped his comm. "Doctor McCoy, how are you progressing on an antidote to the Gorn venom?"

From the shuttle, McCoy smiled tightly at his developing serum cooking away in the synthesizer. _"Almost there. It's a nasty little virus...but, Captain...I gotta tell you...those Gorn are everywhere. Sulu stunned a pregnant female that tried to attack us."_ He covered his eyes with the palm of his hand, leaning against the wall of the shuttle. _"Then, like an idiot, I tried to perform an emergency C-section to save the little bastard. The slimy thing came out all teeth and claws. Nearly bit my hand off."_

Climbing down onto the lowered ground, Kirk suppressed a smile as he stepped into a puddle. He failed.

"Hahaha..." His voice echoed in the cave. From behind the doctor, three men laughed as well as they ran diagnostics and sorted through burnt wires.

 _"_ _Well, I'm glad_ you _think it's funny..."Everyone else does..._ The doctor paused. _"...anyway, how are you two doing?"_

Kirk was up on the wall, reaching for a ledge to his left. "Just peachy...stay in comms in case we need you." Grasping the handhold, he leapt to the next one over.

 _"_ _You got it, Jim."_ McCoy's pickup went silent.

Kirk, followed shortly by Spock, moved from ledge to ledge and jumping up onto a higher rocky platform covered in white flowers. Springing off the platform, the two men struggled to hold onto the yet higher projection from the wall.

 _This oughta be a tight squeeze..._ Kirk mused, his eyes analysing the narrow crevice in the wall ahead. Spock steadied his legs as he joined his captain in inspecting the gap. The worst case scenario was that they'd get stuck. There were also some rough parts that looked like they might hurt if you got to close.

 _Only one way to find out._ The captain shrugged, moving into the hole, sidestepping carefully along the short path. As Spock emerged behind him, the Vulcan reached back and moved his shoulder around to relieve the built up tension. His body, though not injured and trained hard for a variety of conditions, was sore and starting to tire under the stress of constant climbing and moving. By the way his commanding officer was stretching, his endurance and strength was also feeling the long term effects of the extended stress.

Kirk wasn't stretching; he was gazing over the side of the cliff, trying to see the bottom. The entire large chamber they were in was dark. A question immediately popped into his mind.

Where _was_ the bottom?


	14. Chapter 14

_Chapter 12_

 _Stardate 2259.33_

 _Gorn Planet – Tunnels_

It was an abyss.

The vast open chasm, only broken up by the odd flat rocky plateaus a distance away, had a bottom that stretched far beyond the scanner range of Kirk and Spock's tricorders. It was no less than hundreds of feet down, maybe a thousand. There were only two ways to the other side; the more dangerous of the two was a series of jumps between the flat surfaces and over the looming death drop, eventually leading to climbing the far wall, and hoping for the handholds to sustain their weight.

The "safer" route was much the same, only it involved shuffling along a foot wide ledge that was _supposedly_ solid.

This still didn't make Kirk feel any better. "You think we can actually get across that?"

"I believe it is possible." Spock said, considering the same two possible methods of getting across. The path around the gorge's periphery _was_ more solid, and did not provide the risk of falling. The risk of slipping did not promote its case.

Once again, stalactites and stalagmites lined the ground they stood on. Crouched closer, Kirk noticed weirdsemi-brightorange crystals embedded in the rock.

"This looks interesting." He took a reading and a small sample. Spock knelt down, a hand on his captain's shoulder.

"Captain, may I remind you we have a lot of ground to cover? It would be unwise to collect toomany heavy samples."

"I have to get some of this to Scotty. Look at the readings on this thing? Like dilithium, only...strange." The crystals used to power standard star ships like the _Enterprise_ bore some startling similarities to this unusual crystalline substance.

"Fascinating." The first officer noted the several cubic particle that made up the larger object. "I believe, much like dilithium, that this naturally occurring crystal has the capability to conduct various forms of ener-"

Kirk started. A flicker of movement across the ridge. Kirk pulled out his type IIIrifle and gazed through the scope. A single Gorn warrior patrolled the edge and surrounding area. _We must be getting close to their camp._ Why else would Gorn be out there unless they had something to guard?

This was going two ways. If he didn't get the Gorn first, they'd shoot him and Spock before they even got to the other side. If the initial blasts didn't kill them, the fall would. Propping his rifle onto a broken stalagmite formation, Kirk tapped the nozzle on his scope and zeroed in on the warrior. It had finally halted, looking from side to side, pillager raised. The tensed captain set it to full power and pulled back on the trigger, heart racing with new adrenaline.

The creature pitched back and collapsed. Previously unseen insects reacted to the echoing gunshot. They reared their tails up and squealed from their spots on the platforms. Who knew how they had gotten out there. _Most likely along the ceiling_ , Spock surmised.

A second Gorn warrior entered Kirk's sights, taking a position behind an obsidian formation. It took a moment to get the target into his crosshairs, dropping the other fighter with a triple kill shot. Spock dispatched the insects below one by one until the way was clear.

With the rifles on their backs, they stopped short of the small ledge. Kirk swallowed and looked back at his first officer with one side of his mouth curved up more than the other. He huffed.

"Well...here goes nothing..." Glancing over the side, his grin disappeared. Tentatively at first, he shuffled along the wall's edge. Blackness lurked below, almost reaching for him. He stopped and pushed slightly harder backward.

Spock was starting to make his way along. "Be careful, sir." Spock's hand was held out to clutch his companion's arm, his eyes slightly widened. Kirk kept moving, looking back with the same expression.

"Don't you think I'm trying to be, Spock?" He started to place a foot on the solid flat surface on the other side. "Thanks, though. Here, take my hand."

"No..." Spock answered sharply. His back was flat up against the wall, feet gently moving along with perfect precision. His mental control over the high emotions he felt wouldn't allow him to panic. _This is a simple task. I can traverse this with ease if I am careful..._ On the other side, he exhaled and shared a knowing look with Kirk. "But I appreciate your concern for my well being." He proceeded forward, quickly stepping down a slope.

"I believe we will need to jump." Spock could see the ground ahead sloped down, or wasn't there.

Just before Kirk's feet, there was only darkness. _I'd better._ "I believe you're right."

The next few jumps were tenuous. The first drop was several feet. Landing hard on his feet, Kirk adjusted his footing and backed up. Another jump, this time longer and farther down. The two officers landed hard. Both got up quickly. A short cautious walk along a very thin but sturdy piece of brown rock led to a final plateau. Between them and the way up was a jump over a straight drop into the darkness.

With a courageous leap, both men slammed into the wall, hanging off the rocky extensions. Spock grunted Kirk blew out hard on impact, kicking up a cloud of dust. Regaining his strength, he moved along the edges and pulled himself over the rough cliff side. After all that climbing, they were still met with wall.

 _Another cliff? Really?_ Kirk made a cup shape with his hands, thrusting Spock up onto it. He jumped up to grab the commander's waiting hand. Without missing a beat, he took off running. Kirk was not sure of anything when it came to the Gorn. His legs pumped, urged on by something he felt.

It was a gut feeling. _Nothing Spock would understand._ But he was sure of it.

 **...**

 _Stardate 2259.33_

 _USS Enterprise – Bridge_

They were _supposed_ to be silent. That's what Kirk had said.

But in all the confusion and tension on the bridge, Scotty remained focused, and somewhat annoyed at the ongoing scans he was receiving from directly from his captain and first officer. But still, when not giving orders, he continued his log work on his lap with a sandwich in hand.

 _Only for you, Captain. But when you get back, you owe me a tall bottle of scotch._

Doing a onceover of his notes, he felt a mix of accomplishment, exasperation and boredom. Why did _he_ have to do all of this?

Strange plant life, a glowing flower he aptly named "Glowflower." The name was simple and obvious, but had a certain appeal to it. He glanced over his words written for the captain:

 _"_ _I was going to call this "Glow Flower" (two words) but "Glowflower" (one word) just sounds more exotic, don't you think? Evocative of faraway planets, the romance of space exploration. Same reason it's not called "Star Fleet."_

The description made him smile. What could he say? It was the romantic Scot in him.

Next was a random stalactite _– I mean, why do you want to know about a rock formation? Why are you asking me? I'm an engineer, not a geologist..._

Upon closer look, his brows raised slightly. The geology on the planet was unique, and the geology department would be _very_ interested. _Oh well, I'll keep it on record. And my candid remarks._ Several of his names and descriptions were.

 _Let's continue._ He took another bite of his ham on rye. Some animal life, or something. A creepy looking insect he dubbed a "Gorpion." Another he'd just called "dog" because it was what Dr. McCoy had called it in his text message. As Scott had referred to it, dogs were just another unbreakable rule of the universe, like speed of light and gravity. _Not by any means a friendly Labrador. Not with those sharp fangs and claws, or that disposition._

He'd also learned the "dogs" were "altered." _Weird. Exactly what do you mean by that?_

As much as he searched through his data collected, nothing was redeeming of the Gorn. A defensive type of drone offered a refreshing change to the Gorn's "otherwise unwaveringly sadistic design choices," as the chief engineer had put down. This was because earlier they'd had exploding drones. At first the Captain surmised they were just blow apart by his phaser, but no.

The chief almost felt like putting his sandwich back he was so sick. The drone was not weaponized, just loaded with explosives and sent on a collision course with whoever was unfortunate to be in the room. He shook his head, rereading the description he'd put down. It was short, but accurate.

 _"_ _The Gorn have made a drone that is suicidal. Of course they have."_

 _Of course they have, indeed._ Attack model of the drone was the most disturbing, though. He had messaged Kirk back on it. Strangely enough, it appeared to be controlled partially by sensors and partially by something else. When Kirk and Spock had encountered them previously, the drones seemed to be able to alert the Gorn themselves that they were there. The chief glanced at his description. He could only surmise that the "something else" was a sort of "collective Gorn intelligence". A "hive mind" that alerted the others.

 _Now that's a scary thought._ Were the Gorn telepaths? How else could they be in touch with tech?

Scotty eyed the swarm of ships moving around the planet, lowering his creatures seemed to have no built things to kill things. They ravaged planets and whole galaxies. Now the _Enterprise_ and her crew were the only thing between the Gorn and the galaxy the crew knew as home.

"How're we holding up out there, helm?"

The dark woman scanned her instruments. "Maintaining stationary position, sir. It doesn't appear that we're experiencing any negative effects from the anomaly's gravity, or the exposure itself."

"All systems functioning under normal parameters. No problems with the interference." Another officer called back.

Scotty closed the PADD screen, finishing his sandwich and putting it away. "Mister Chekov, what are they doing out there?"

"Still circling, sir. Patrolling the area, mostly monitoring planetary conditions. A large contingent are travelling in formation, performing a search for whatever struck the surface with the air strike. But we are running out of space to pull back into. If the shuttle doesn't return soon, I'm worried we..." His voice faltered, seeing that the attention of the bridge crew was squarely on him. "I am worried that we will be found. Given their superior numbers, I'm not sure how long we could hold them off."

Scotty's eyes were downcast, but quickly snapped up at the helmsman. "Okay. But I don't think it'll come to that. We've got to believe they will return in time." He stood up, striding toward the main screen. His gaze moved from his own reflection to the seemingly insurmountable fleet of ships, always on guard even when not attacking.

Lieutenant Uhura was present at her station, now monitoring ship's comm activity. "The crew are maintaining their composure for now, but activity is up quite a bit. Most of it personal in nature."

The acting captain relaxed back in his chair, feigning a look of control for his crew's benefit. It wasn't working much.

At the helm, Chekov could only think of what his captain had told him. They had to leave, and he had to get them out. Quiet exchanges of looks and whispers spread around the ship.

 _"_ _Whether or not we return."_ He didn't even want to consider leaving them with those creatures. He'd seen one and had been freaked out.

Here was the possibility the shuttle crew would be forced to live with a planet full of them. _Forever._

 **...**

 _Stardate 2259.33_

 _Gorn Planet – Tunnels_

"I think we're getting close." Kirk knew in his head they run about the distance that they needed to travel when they landed. They _had_ to have.

"You are correct." A voice behind him responded.

Movement up ahead. Kirk lowered into cover. A dog-like creature ran toward him. No, it ran _away_ from a pursuing Gorn warrior. In a hail of pillager fire, the creature collapsed. Satisfied with itself, the Gorn walked back past a turret.

Kirk crouch ran carefully behind a pillar, one of two on either side of the rock bridge leading across a sunken pool of brown water below. He eyed the still, bloody dog on the ground. _Sick. Damn reptile killed it for fun._ Nodding at Spock, he brought his tricorder close to his chin and pinged a single noise off the bridge.

The warrior started. Stood upright. Turning with a growl, it moved closer to investigate the cause of the weird sound. Kirk was waiting, rifle set at full power. Closer, closer...

It stopped at the sounds origin, looking out at the wall and the waters below thoroughly confused. Kirk moved like lightning, fire a shot into its thick hide. Tail and limbs flailed as the creature flew into the depths down below, sinking like a stone. When Spock stood up behind his pillar, attempting to get a lock on the turret's controls, Kirk was already hacking and successfully disabling it.

The Vulcan's eyebrow raised. "Impressive. You work quickly."

Kirk got up, looking down the bridge toward the open way ahead. He knew around that corner had to be an entrance. He _didn't_ know what was waiting for the two of them. The water below was a more indirect route than head on.

"Spock, I'm gonna scout ahead. We can't go through there, it's too risky." He pointed in front of them. His face was steady and firm in his resolve. "The underwater tunnels are the best way in. I have, after all, gotten quite good at swimming today."

Spock was firm in _his_ resolve as well. He'd known for a while now that something was off. "Captain, I must protest. During our time on this planet, you have repeatedly placed yourself in danger, often doing alone what you could do with my assistance."

A frown. "What's the matter, Spock? Are you jealous that _I'm_ having all the fun?" The Captain was visibly agitated. "And what _about_ me putting myself in danger? _You_ seem to be doing that a lot lately." Kirk thought of the many times Spock had previously risked his own life on past missions. But of course, _that_ was different.

Spock ignored the second comment, sticking to the accusation of jealousy. "No, that is not it. If you believe my abilities to be less than adequate or somehow insufficient to complete this mission, then you should not have chosen me to accompany you. However, seeing as how I am here now, it is only logical that you allow me to assist you when I can." Spock's voice lowered, his gaze holding. "I assure you that my training has made me capable, and I can prove that-"

"No, Spock, it's not that!" Kirk's face flashed many emotions. Exhaustion, pain, confusion, frustration. Finally it became lighter. "I chose you because I _trust_ you. Your abilities are _more_ than enough for this mission. You're my first officer, and my friend. I just..." He paused.

 _I don't want you to get hurt because of me._ Kirk already felt awful for what had happened that day as it was. If his friend got injured or worse because of a wrong move, he would be done for on this planet. "I need you, Spock. _Really._ Your mind is level. You keep me going in the right direction."

Spock tilted his head. His eyes tried to read the Captain's various emotions. "Thank you for the high praise, sir. You, too, have been instrumental in our success." He watched Kirk's features, detecting a sense of something he had seen in Uhura. _Emotional distress._

"If you are feeling guilty for today's proceedings, or are traumatized by what you have seen-"

Kirk cut in before his first officer could delve any deeper. His eyes blinked a few times, wiping out whatever Spock had seen. "Look, Spock. Think about this for a moment. We've got two ways inside an area of high Gorn concentration. The way I've chosen allows for indirect and more secretive access. I want you to wait back here to provide assistance should I get into trouble. Isn't that better than going in that way? Isn't it... _logical_?"

The Vulcan paused, considering. "It is. I will wait for you here." Kirk smiled. _I owe you one, buddy._

"Good." His hand met Spock's shoulder. "See you in a bit." The Captain dove into the water like an Olympic athlete. Under the rippling surface, the Gorn he had shot earlier lay still on the pool's floor. The short, wide tunnel was effortless to paddle through once he'd disabled the four carefully laid mines.

Kirk shook the water off his head as he broke the surface. He was in another basin leading to a shallow river. While most of his view was obstructed by a large metal and rock carved pillar, he could see two dog things which he quickly stunned. Step two was charging his weapon. _Good to go._

Now he scanned the area with his eyes, typing a text message back to his first. The ramp and grounds were clear, though he could hear and detect several warriors close by. If he could just inch around the pillar, then maybe he could see what was going on...

A sound above his head made his blood freeze. Slowly looking up, he saw a Gorn holding an unusual object. _A weapon?_

The creature's scaly head looked down. Kirk stood and frantically slid into the water, ducking below a thick laser of focused energy. Heart racing, he paddled rapidly back the way he came, surfacing in seconds. Spock looked over the edge at him.

"Here, sir. There is a way you can climb up." He guided the younger man to a series of wall indentations leading up. "What did you see? You messages cut off mid sentence."

Kirk sat at Spock's feet, still gulping in air. "There are a lot of Gorn, but I wasn't able to detect what was going on. One of them found me." He grabbed the Vulcan's hand, getting to a standing position. "It was overhead, on some bridge or something."

"Then we should take the direct route. While you _were_ spotted, they will be expecting you to return via that way. Perhaps your accident can work to our advantage."

"Shhhh. This way." Kirk walked quickly and quietly ahead.

Around the corner it was unusually quiet. Taking up secure positions, they scouted the area. There were two turrets, one active. Several Gorn, all warriors, were on guard either patrolling or searching.

"There's a lot of them near that door. I think they're protecting something." Kirk pulled the rifle's scope back from his eye. Three warriors on the far end of the cave worked just feet away from two large brown doors set in the wall.

"Perhaps they are protecting a way in." Spock said, his voice just carrying over the captain's shoulder.

Kirk put on a bolder expression. "Well, there's only one way to find out."

The first shot would alert all the Gorn. Locating the first one near where he'd been, Kirk took it out with a single shot. Spock picked off a second one on his side of the stream.

The third was Kirk's. Up high, patrolling on the rock "bridge." This warrior was hard to locate, passing by several broken barriers and only being visible for a second. It was enough.

The last two in front of the door were split between the officers. Spock followed one as it moved away before firing, while Kirk took the last shot against an oblivious enemy target.

Spock's pace quickened. "I will go this way, sir. You should take out the turret up ahead."

"Copy that." Kirk evaded the laser triggers of the far turret, eyeing a closer on ahead on a forty five degree angle. As he moved behind another pillar, the turret's motion sensors detect him, opening its large head and standing onto its legs, scanning around for a figure it would never see. After reaching to give his tricorder a chance to link with the turrets system. Reconfiguring the parameters of the turret as he'd done before, he speedily shut the automatic defence system down. Now if it came on again it would target Gorn signatures. Judging by Spock's lengthened strides to catch up with him, Kirk could tell the Vulcan had easily succeeded with his turret as well.

Kirk briefly checked out the rocky bridge to find the weapon that had shot at him. Scanning it, he discovered a few disturbing details about its construction. He simply wired the link to Scotty and continued back down. His Vulcan first officer was contemplating a triangular shaped structure with a keypad.

"Spock, try to hack that console. That's gotta unlock the doors."

Spock nodded and got to work. Kirk found himself temporarily distracted by the pooling water behind him. It didn't seem to drain anywhere, and yet the room wasn't flooded. _Gotta get to T'Mar, no time for this._

To Spock's surprise, the keypad turned green earlier than he thought it would. Activating the door's power, he shut his tricorder and strode for the entryway.

Inside, they had the choice of a locked door or a high ledge to the left. To Kirk, this was a no brainer. _Always go indirect._

"Let's go _this_ way." Kirk stepped onto his First officer's folded hands, leaping up and pulling himself onto the flat surface. He frowned.

 _Another door._ Kirk would've laughed if he wasn't the one slowed down by these things.

"Here, Spock, grab on." He reached his hand down and pulled the Vulcan's bulk over the side. If Spock hadn't helped he would've dropped him. The captain grimaced and massaged his sore bicep. _Is that still injured?_ Carefully and cautiously, the two men stepped toward the next doors, unaware of what awaited.

 **...**

Kirk had felt this way before.

The was a strong stench in the atmosphere. Like rotting garbage and waste and chemicals. Probably some Gorn blood and feces mixed in there. Kirk's face contorted, seeing the rushing water over the side of the ground he and Spock walked on. It was certainly contributing to the aroma. _And we were actually swimming around in that stuff?_

Pulling out his rifle, Kirk tried not to breathe too deeply. Everywhere they went down here, something smelled. Since finding the Gorn, they'd gotten a mixture of all of them combined, and then some.

"God please, I hope we're almost there. I can't take much more of this smell." The captain's voice was strained.

If Spock was annoyed, he wasn't showing it. "If we are going to reach T'Mar, we will need to find a way inside the complex."

 _Right, knew that._ Still, the overwhelming odour...he groaned by complied readily. "My thoughts exactly."

A Gorn Warrior paced up a path across the river, stopping at the top edge, looking over the side. Amongst the loose plants and weeds on his side, Kirk poked his rifle through, focusing the scope on the creature's body. High powered crimson projectiles blew the guard over the side, falling into the water below.

One by one, Kirk and Spock jumped to a circular plateau and then onto the other path. With the rifles back on their clips, they crouch-walked quickly up the path. Kirk moved into cover first. What he saw beyond made his eyes widen and jaw drop.

In a small rounded area, a couple indigenous creatures were roaming around without clothes. They looked obviously distressed at the sight of the oncoming warrior that dwarfed them. The reptile reared up on its hind legs and growled at them, pointing and commanding a frail, weak member of the other species. The pillager was firmly clutched in its other hand as a threat. The indigenous ducked its head down, cowering behind its large hands. It shuddered as if it was crying.

Kirk felt a twinge of pain deep inside him. "Those look like the creatures we met when we landed."

Spock moved his head in confirmation. "They _are_ the same."

Kirk watched two indigenous begin chipping rocks, looking confused and out of it. _Oh my god..._ Kirk began to forget all about the odours, feeling sick for a new reason.

"They're using them as slaves." looking confused. Another was slumped against a box. Another was dead face first on the ground.

Spock's logic told him something he had hoped wasn't the case. He did not pause before whispering back his conclusion. The words hit Kirk like a brick.

"I suspect that this is what the Gorn will do to the rest of our galaxy if they are allowed to harness the power of the Helios Device."

The rest of their galaxy was for the time being, safe on the other side of the rip. But for how long would it stay that way? Kirk waited for the warrior to leave, stepping up a slope to a Gorn bridge to speak to a female observer.

With Kirk safely out of sight behind crates, Spock moved behind a small jagged boulder. A previously unseen indigenous mindlessly scratched at the wall. The Vulcan observing this pitiful action. Turning, he caught a glimpse of an indigenous looking right at him. It said nothing, but its alien face told all. Dejection and misery lined its odd features. Spock returned the look with one of the same. It was becoming almost impossible to watch, but there was nothing they could do. _Nothing we can do to effect long term change. Nothing to ease the pain._

Kirk scanned the slaves carefully. Their life signs were not looking good. Respiration and heart rate unusual, bodies damaged in several places. As if they'd been attacked. He angrily suspected just _who_ was probably responsible for these breaks, bruises and healed gashes.

The warrior approached, recapturing the indigenous' vacant attentions. Kirk observed the two bridges leading to a facility, one detached into two halves.A security camera panned left and right near the front entrance.

The Gorn snarled and pointed over to the wall. Assured it had caused sufficient fear to make his request made, the Gorn walked back up the way. This time Kirk followed, silent and determined. When the warrior stopped to look out over the waters and survey the bridge, Kirk crept up right behind the large reptilian form.

A punch under the ribs. Arms flew around the neck. The Gorn uttered a tiny noise, unable to contact the others. The snapping noise that followed told Spock that they had one less threat to worry about.

A short skirmish ensued after Kirk took down the observer. The security camera went from shining green light to red opening and facing in his direction. An alarm blared, and an attack drone emerged from the wall beside it. _Darn it._ Warriors hunkered below a solid stone rail on the opposite side of the bridge. One fired pillager projectiles, while the other sprayed the area with a surge of gold energy. Kirk pulled himself down hard to avoid getting hit.

Spock targeted the attack drone. His captain was busy targeting the two warriors that had stopped firing to reload. In quick succession, the two reptiles crumpled under fire from two different directions.

Kirk's mind whirled. _Drone._ A shot and it was destroyed. _Camera._ Another blast wiped it out.

Across the bridge, the door was securely locked. They needed another way. Searching the small side area, Kirk discovered a strange instrument. It looked like a mace, with sharper spikes, and more of them. Spock scanned it curiously, detecting another a distance away. Readings uncovered signs of strange blood. _As I suspected._ As he'd hoped it wouldn't be.

Noting an open shaft in the ceiling, Kirk and Spock got inside and shifted down into a lower vent. Crawling out the other side, Kirk discovered they were entering a security area. He studied a large console in three parts, unable to discern what the wide translucent display meant. Several blue and white symbols, shapes and lines appeared one by one until the screen filled with Gorn data, then disappeared and started again. Kirk took a scan.

Spock pondered a yellow glowing circular pad on the floor. Light emanated up like a flame, and more energy spiralled around it. _A form of transporter._

Kirk glanced around behind him. Parted rails, locked door, small supply crates. _Aaannnddd of course..._ Three more tanks, attached almost like light fixtures to the wall, contained deceased floating bodies of indigenous. The sight made Kirk feel ill.

"There are several more creatures outside." Spock didn't need his tricorder to hear the reptiles milling about.

"Where does _this_ lead?" Kirk strode forward, addressing the circular floor panel. The glowing had a mesmerizing effect.

"I believe it goes to a small chamber above us." His eyes met the ceiling. The first officer didn't completely know what effects the Gorn transporters would have on their physiology.

"No matter how we get out of here, that camera," Kirk pointed to his readings at the suspended object, "will spot us. I've gotta take it out."

Spock responded almost immediately. "I advise extreme caution. You will be faced with several potential problems that pose a serious risk to your life." He knew there was something else the captain wasn't telling him about the mission, about what was going on in his mind.

As quietly as he could, Kirk snuck along below the short two foot wall and up a ramp toward the camera. He froze and held his breath as a slender blue Gorn tech stopped just behind his head around the corner. Three toes on each foot and metal plated armour on the body and parts of the limbs. Just as Kirk was sure he'd been heard, the female turned and stalked away, a defensive drone following right behind her.

The captain had to hurry. Past the shadows of three pillars, he sat on a heel and flipped his tricorder open. His heart was beating loud enough he could barely concentrate. If either of the two warriors patrolling down the walkway to his left caught him, they'd light him up in seconds. And that would be if they _didn't_ call for reinforcements.

The tricorder upgrades would only work if the Gorn security access hadn't changed the coding again. He knew their tech could do that. _This has to work._

Jabbing his finger at the screen, he commenced a basic software program that would hunt for the shut down key. In a moment, the camera went dark. Before the female Gorn could turn around, Kirk had already crept through the shadows and was moving back into the room with Spock.

All it took was a simple click for both officers to be dematerialized on the pad and rematerializedagain in the small corridor was only about a meter wide with a broken stone floor.

 _What is this place?_ Kirk didn't have time to debate the nuances of Gorn architecture. The only way out was a narrow doorway.

Both men looked out. Water below wouldn't be fatal, but getting washed up against debris or blasted under any of the three water jets probably would back, Kirk prepared to jump for the cup shaped ceiling fixture. He fought through his initial hesitation and dove out, grappling with the hand hold and pushing up with his feet to steady himself. His arms burned as they pulled up hard to keep him from falling.

Shifting around the circular structures was even harder on their muscles. Spock was beginning to feel the dull ache return. Each movement was difficult. Kirk had to stop suddenly to avoid passing warriors down below from seeing them. As if it wasn't bad enough, he turned his head away to avoid inhaling dirt his hands brushed off the handholds.

 _Another one._ Reaching out an strained arm, he pushed off with his legs and thumped against the next massive to the next. Finally the two made the trip down the wall on the other side. Once on solid ground again, the moved into cover and gulped down air as quietly as anyone could do so. Kirk waited a minute to calm himself before looking up.

The third unusual Gorn object, sharp and bloodied like the previous two. _Wonderful._ The access way to the next facility was thoroughly guarded.A turret sat just ahead of the doors, waiting to gun down any intruders that should come that way. _No way we're getting through there._

"Suggestions, Spock?"

"Captain..." Spock swallowed and exhaled, rapidly regaining his strength. "We could use the transporter pad in that alcove, though I am not sure where it leads will provide us with a way in."

"And if we move to it, we expose ourselves to _them._ " Kirk pondered for only a second. _The turret!_ "Just get ready to shoot, Spock. We're gonna have some help."

"Bypassing the turret will be difficult. If you misalign the signals, the system will respond by tracing the attempted hack to the source. That may leave us open for attack." The two shared a look.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, Spock." A smirk broke the Captain's face.

In seconds, the patrolling warriors fell victim to a surprise attack from their own weaponized technology. Realization of the threat did not prevent the two from succumbing under a hail of fire. They only got off a few shots off with no real effect on their new enemy. The defence drone could not provide any for itself, blowing apart after a few quick hits. A third warrior appeared from beyond the doors, only to be shot down by Kirk. Spock moved his crosshairs over the Gorn tech, who was now pointing and firing at the turret from a safe distance. One high powered shot sent her flying back. The attack drone she'd beamed in for support was Kirk's target. No longer detecting a threat, the turret folded back up.

As one final action of sabotage, Kirk took out the camera. The transporter beam sent the two officers into a strange cave area. Three tunnels lined the left wall. Kirk stopped short of the first opening as fire raged out, brushing him.

"AHH!" He threw himself back hard onto the ground. "What the heck?"

Spock reached down. "Captain, are you hurt?" He looked past the Captain and toward the jets of fire going on and off.

Kirk took a moment to examine himself for peeling flesh or severe burns. Aside from a warm feeling on his face, he was still relatively okay. "I'm fine. How do we shut these off?"

"There are consoles we may be able to remotely access."

"Let's do it." Kirk got out his tricorder.

The Gorn hadn't taken much care in encrypting the codes for the jets. It took under a minute to shut the three off. At the last one, they looked down. Water crashed up against debris. Spock tilted his head and raised an eyebrow.

" _Perhaps_ these jets are used to combust waste."

"Or just to _torch_ people they bring here." Kirk guessed sarcastically. Knowing the Gorn, however, it was possible. He already knew what they were capable of. Running back down the way, Kirk searched for a way in. The first fire jet was shut off, revealing the same water and debris mix.

 _Same here..._

"Captain! This way!" Spock almost sounded excited. Before Kirk could react, Spock had disappeared into the recessed area just to the around, he saw what had captured his first's attention.

A single hatch. Kirk suppressed a grin.

"We're in." Lengthening his strides, Kirk tried to examine his tricorder for Vulcan life signs. T'Mar was still missing, but she had to be kept here. Not finding her, his face fell. What he did discover only made him feel worse.

"This place is massive. Spock, any idea how we can find T'Mar?"

"If we can hack into a security terminal we may be able to discern her location." As Kirk opened the hatch, Spock did a few quick taps on his scanner. "I have set our tricorders to detect security terminals."

They dropped into the vacant room. Dark and filled with supplies, and two consoles. _Likely a Gorn closet._ The door's locking system was easily bypassed from the inside, as was the next to the right, just feet down the hall.

They'd been down there for hours, Kirk was sure. Each room they passed, each step they took was one farther from the outside, farther from the ship. Farther from help. And after all of it, T'Mar could be...

Kirk frowned and didn't let himself consider that. He could not lose. This was how he lived his life. Everything could be overcome, everything could be handled. He and Spock prepared for anything.

Anything, except for what they saw lying on the floor in front of them.

 **...**

 _Stardate 2259.33_

 _USS Enterprise – Bridge_

 _"_ _Arc Driver. A ranged energy weapon of considerable destructive power. If you see one coming, looking for cover should become your top priority. I can almost respect the ingenuity that went into this one. Almost."_

 _Looks like a sword with a chipped blade._

That was the best way Scotty could describe the latest Gorn gun. A weapon of mass destruction – _literally_. Firing a high powered laser wasn't enough, though it could take out or at least maim groups of enemies. The Gorn had to make it possible to eject the entire clip in a missile-like projectile, releasing the energy in one concussive blast. _Bloody terrifying._ It, like the other weapons, was also biological in nature.

This development came right after he'd temporarily gotten interesting news of some crystalline formations that were also found in the bellies of Gorn vessels. He had only just been thinking of what he could do with power conductors like _those_ in the _Enterprise_...

And now, a new disturbing image. Over his shoulder, Chekov stopped and grimaced.

"It looks like a mace." The navigator noted.

"Aye, and did you see the other two?" Scott showed them completely unenthusiastically. This time both made faces at the gruesome looking objects.

In the time he'd known the bright, positive man standing to his left, Scotty had never seen him look so disturbed. "What are these _for_?"

"Scientific instruments? I kinna be sure." The chief answered. Though he had been given the shivers by Doctor McCoy's medical instruments, he was sure even _he_ would get the willies looking at the Gorn tools.

Lieutenant Uhura was now engaged in the conversation. Her job as communications officer was somewhat slow right now. They couldn't make contact more than delayed, highly encrypted messages, and only _from_ the planet. A return might be caught, so Kirk had already ordered silence on the comms.

"Somehow I doubt that the Gorn are very interested in science." She put a hand on the back of her neck as if trying to rub away hours of stress. "Unless, of course, it involves killing and destroying. I haven't found _one_ thing on the recordings of Gorn language that isn't about violence or threats."

Chekov's voice quickened with worry. "Mister Scott, I think we should try the Keptin again. I _know_ what he said, and I _know_ the risk involved, but I believe we can utilize a low frequency beam, something that blends in with standard interference. Then we could-"

Scotty broke in. "No, lad. We kinna do that. These scans I get are bounced around and heavily delayed by the interference as it is."

"We don't even know if the Captain or Spock are in range of hearing it, or above ground." Uhura explained. "And if we pinged the shuttle, without help, they'd be in danger of attack too."

Chekov was lost for words. "But...you heard what he said to me. _I_ have to get us out of here if they don't come back in time."

"We're all scared of these beasties, Chekov." Scotty stood from his command chair, offering a look of understanding to the young ensign.

Steadying his stance, Chekov moved to speak again, but was cut off by a technician.

"Sir! Enemy counts are over one hundred." he checked his screen, watching the icons move about. "More are dropping from warp."

The three people by the captain's chair stood silently watching the growing swarm of enemy fighters and heavy attack ships.

 **...**

 _Stardate 2259.33_

 _Gorn Planet – Complex Laboratories_

"Spock, are you seeing what I'm seeing?" He motioned with his hand phaser.

"These items could only have come from Starfleet officers." Several boxes, suitcases, hand phasers, tricorders were stacked neatly on the ground. Other standard shuttle equipment made up the pile. Enough for multiple people to survive a long journey. A worried Kirk wondered if they could belong to _his_ crew.

Up the inclined hall, the darkened enclosure seemed non-threatening, and yet foreboding. The heightened alertness that had gotten them out of many situations before rescued them once again. Before Kirk or Spock could really look around, the sound of the doors sliding open triggered a run for cover.

A strange looking Gorn stalked into the room, clutching a large staff. At the end of it was an axe-like blade of energy. The Gorn itself wasn't like any either of them had ever seen. Tall, thin and dark blue with muscular limbs, the _very_ tall reptile was an imposing opponent. Stopping its approach, the creature arched its back and sniffed at the ground, and then the air.

Opening its red, jagged teethed mouth, the Gorn looked both ways before letting out a screeching roar that seemed to echo. A shiver went up Kirk's spine. This guy was guarding the door with his life. _So...he's a...Guardian, then?_

He didn't know whether to be afraid of the weapon it held or its jaws. An eye peered around the pillar.

Waiting. The Gorn stood firmly in place. As it stalked awkwardly toward a command console, Human and Vulcan moved carefully and silently through the shadows and into a hatch leading below the floor. These tunnels were lined with compartments, each containing a dead, unconscious or distressed Lymax. The sight of it was worse than the dripping yellow liquid or the stomping of their adversary's feet above them.

Stopping briefly to avoid the passing green light from a security camera, the two continued on and up the ladder. At the curved, M-shaped security console Kirk typed in an access code he hoped would work. It did. The screen became green, and revealed to him the camera's viewpoint.

Floor. No Gorn. Kirk pivoted, seeing his first officer inspecting a strange object set on the wall. "Coast is clear, but we need to disable the camera before we can leave this room."

"I shall do so now." Spock replied, working like lightning to shut down the camera's power supply. Kirk shook his head in dismay at two more tanks suspending indigenous creatures. He knew the Gorn were ruthless, but he couldn't fathom what it would take to do things like this without guilt.

Camera downed and door unlocked, the two men hunkered below barriers on either side of another inclined floor. A Gorn tech hunched over a computer station, a hulking warrior lumbered toward them. Unusual that so many would be around here.

From their hiding spots, both officers held their breath as they waited for the creature to find them. Time came and went. Just as it began to leave, Kirk jumped early and began climbing over the rail.

Both froze. The Gorn made the first move, scratching an itch on its lower back before continuing away. From box to box, Kirk preceded Spock to the far left of the room, avoiding sight. From behind a boxy computer station, Kirk remotely disabled a drone replicator mechanism. _No surprises._

Step after uncomfortable step, they moved past more indigenous creatures trapped in cramped spaces. Following the silent indicator on his tricorder, Spock climbed up a short ladder and unlocked a hatch, granting him and Kirk access to the security room. Just up on a risen section of the room, the single small terminal sat idle.

"Captain, the terminal should be difficult to solve."

Kirk squinted his eyes, trying to eliminate the view of two more tanks with floating indigenous from his mind. "I've got it, Spock. You get the turret. We need backup." He stared through the blurry window out at the turret and the patrolling Gorn warrior. It shifted part of its shoulder armour, grunting.

Still moving through lines of code swiftly, Spock glanced at the readings Kirk unlocked from inside Gorn security information. His expression was still hardened but twitched at what he saw. Abnormal life sign readings on several individuals that were moved back and forth between rooms before disappearing records.

"Readings indicate that we will find T'Mar in the labs ahead."

"No _wonder_ there are so many guards." As the last word exited Kirk's mouth, Spock shut his tricorder. From outside the window, the turret came to life, rearing up and gunning down the two Gorn before either could react. A third Gorn, the same one with the staff Kirk and Spock had just avoided entered. With a mighty swing of its weapon, the turret temporarily shut down.

Running from the room, Kirk ripped out his rifle and blew the creature away in one movement. He shot the disabled camera out before jogging by the turret and up a dark hall. Dim light streamed from a window at the end of the corridor. _What's going on in there?_ Kirk pressed his face against the glass. To his horror, he saw a member of the planet's indigenous population, trussed up on a table, weakly moving its head. A pair of Gorn observed scanners on the side.

"What are they doing?" Kirk whispered. Spock could tell immediately what was happening before them. Wires and tubes stuck to the creature's limbs drained fluids in and out. As realisation dawned on him, a mask of deep but subtle sadness made its way across the Vulcan's face.

"It appears that they are experimenting on the indigenous creatures."

"For _what_?" Kirk asked, his disgust making it difficult to keep quiet.

"I do not think either of us want to know." Spock's natural curiosity as chief science officer had its limits. He did _not_ want to consider the gruesome things the Gorn could be doing.

Kirk frowned. "We've _got_ to get to T'Mar." Behind him, another window revealed four more tanks of liquid and indigenous bodies, with two more deceased test subjects lying down, bloodied on the floor. A distant growl echoed down the hall.

Legs pumping, Kirk and Spock raced down the hall and began unlocking the door code. Requiring two people to activate it simultaneously, the encryption was uniquely difficult. With each door code they tried to crack, the next would always be harder.

Doors slid open. From behind two rails opposite each other, they spied two Gorn, another warrior and an axe-wielding creature. Kirk's scans had revealed some startling information he'd have to look at more closely later.

Spock peered around the vast chamber. Several doors lined the left wall; one sat locked tight further on. Given the fact that the Gorn that were present patrolled by the entrances, the first officer reasoned that they must be guards.

"This appears to be some sort of prison."

 _A prison._ As good a place as any to hide a captive. "Could T'Mar be here?"

"It _is_ possible."

Kirk watched the Gorn lumber back from where they came. "Let's keep looking." Jumping over the glass barrier, the Captain took shelter behind yet another large tank of fluid. Hacking through the locking cipher on the first cell door, Kirk made a signal to his XO. Both moved swiftly into a depressed rectangular space in the floor. Spock found only more imperilled natives trapped in microcells along the tunnel wall, some deceased. By his estimates he did not choose to make exact, he figured that there could be millions of indigenous like these, in that they were awaiting experimentation or death. Kirk eyed two dead ones, obviously beaten.

It was a few tense moments of waiting as the Gorn made the rounds of the room. The heavy breathing up on the floor level above just behind Kirk's head was not comforting. When the taller Gorn turned and paced back, Kirk poked up to check his surroundings. The other reptile was occupied. With a downward thrust he silently climbed out of the ditch and led Spock into the first prison. Several Lymax, both alive and dead were inside.

Before he could try to communicate with them, three crazed indigenous people torn from the room, charging at the Gorn warrior with fury. The Gorn could only shoot down one of them before the other two tackled the large creature to the ground. Arms, legs and tails thrashed. Ripping the weapon from its hands, one indigenous began smashing its cruel master in the face. The Gorn screamed and flailed before going still with a loud crunch. The two Lymax dropped the weapon and mindlessly ran from the room down the hall.

Much to Kirk and Spock's surprise, one remained behind. A second nearby was dead at the floor. In the corner, two others were dead. Something among the stream of yellowish blood caught Kirk's eye, drawing him in for a scan. The short handled pointed claw was jagged and bloody. It was evident the two beside it were victims of a brutal attack from the same weapon.

When the remaining axe carrying Gorn lumbered away from the door and past the room's only window, the two officers moved silently in pursuit. Dropping behind a crate, Kirk aimed with his rifle and fired a shot. His clip emptied its last shell, but the Gorn was only wounded. Three others beamed in close by and dropped into cover. Driving its energy axe into the ground, the thin Gorn with two spines on its back and a third on its head created a shield in front of it. Reloaded and ready, Spock and Kirk tensed again. When the shield dropped, the axe rose, ready to come down hard on them both.

A blast of crimson fire blew it back. Kirk had only a second to observe his success before retargeting his next opponent. Avoiding a beam of energy from its gun, he pointed the barrel and discharged his ammo. The shot hit the mark square on.

Projectiles flew by, deflecting off consoles and crates. With expert precision, Spock dropped a second one, Kirk downed a third. When the silence returned, the Captain dropped into a continued part of the sunken in floor, disabled the camera around the corner and shot it out. Now for the cells.

First one was quiet. Consoles, weapon supplies and racks. It was dark. Without delay, they tore out and jogged to the next door.

 _Oh no..._ Kirk's heart dropped. He could feel a cold sweat on his skin. Through the cell's window, he did not see a native creature in a tank.

He saw a Starfleet officer in full uniform, limp and lifeless. Quickening his pace was useless, but his new found urgency to investigate drove him to regardless. Several dead officers, men and women, lined the walls, dead. Some floated in tanks. It seemed as if the ones not suspended in liquid were lined up against the wall and executed.

"It is Commodore Daniels' crew." Spock said, observing the bodies wide eyed and open mouthed. He had not anticipated this. There was a _chance_ that whoever owned the equipment they had found could have been rescued.

Now there was none. _A tragic turn of events._

Kirk knelt down, feeling for pulses. He didn't bother with his tricorder at first. Finally, he gave up. "There's nothing we can do," he muttered, "let's keep moving." Before arising and following his first officer out, Kirk cast a look of regret and pity at the dead men. He recognized one as the man he'd yelled at so much for making it difficult for him at the Starbase. Checking his weapons and "escorting" him, Spock and T'Mar.

 _I shouldn't have yelled at you._ He knew the young man was only following Daniels' orders. Kirk's tricorder quickly recorded the communicator. _Maybe some last words._

 _I'm sorry._ Reaching into a pocket, he placed a tiny object next to the dead people, pointing and locking signals on them. He refused to let them rot here for experiments. He wouldn't leave them here.

Rising slowly, the saddened Captain left the jail cell that was now a morgue.

 **...**

A finger moved. Just slightly at first, but it moved. No one could see it through the darkness.

 _Screams. Terror. Shots firing._

In the dim, shadowy area, a single form still stirred. At the top, what could be its head slowly shifted to the side, and then back.

 _Pain._

A chest rose. Then fell. Through the violent attack and subsequent killing, through the pain and suffering, through the nightmare of it all, life still clung on. Barely, but steadily. A heart beat thrummed hard underneath a yellow shirt.

A bloodied hand grazed over itstorso. Memories of the hulking lizard-like creatures haunted the individual's mind. It squinted its eyes. No help. Grief flowed down its cheeks in the form of stinging tears. The floor was damp and hard beneath a torn sweater.

The distant fading sound of footsteps followed the echo of a familiar voice out of the shutting doors. Around the still figure, several lifeless forms were splayed out on the floor. The officer's heart split with pain at the sight of his friends, out of reach and out of time for any rescue. Having heard a human voice for the first time since the screams, right out of the unconscious blackness, he wanted to speak, but couldn't.

Instead, only thoughts blurred in his mind. Mostly disorientation mixed with one clear thought that sustained him through it all.

 _Diane..._

 **...**

 _Stardate 2259.33_

 _USS Enterprise – Bridge_

Montgomery Scott ground his back teeth together, thinking hard. _Give me the engineering section any day...at least_ there _, I know me enemies to the last circuit. And I can usually make peace with 'em...eventually_. This was not a situation for the faint of heart; the choices he made in the next few momentswould decide the fate of worlds. Sweat beaded on his upper lip."Lieutenant, have you been able to decipher any more of their intership communications? Something that'll give us an idea of what they're planning to do to us? I love a good mystery as much as the next fellow, but I'd rather solve it from me _armchair_ than the _captain's_ chair."

Uhura kept her focus on the display. "Nothing except acts of discipline and brief orders from the larger ships to the fighters. Some of them I don't care to repeat." She struggled to harness every bit of professionalism inside her to keep on her duties and off of her worries. In the warzone below, Kirk and Spock valiantly fought to rescue a single Vulcan woman, the device she created, and the galaxy that waited for their return.

"Keptin!" Chekov immediately broke in, startling those around him. "Sensors detect some sort of weak probing frequency off the starboard bow. No ships nearby, visual confirmation." His mouth opened in an "O" shape, staring down at his instrumentation at a loss for any other words.

Scott was quick to respond. "Evasive manoeuvres! Move us back, helm! When we get to a safe distance, bring us to a full stop. Power down all non essential systems and silence all transponder frequencies."

"Mister Scott, the Keptin told me that I need to get us through the rip. It was, as he clearly said, a _direct order._ He wanted us to avoid danger at all costs."

The acting Captain and the rest of the bridge faltered. Scotty broke the silence that began weighing on the young navigator. "That was in the case the rip was closing, wasn't it?"

"Uhhh..." Chekov thought, his face contorting with confusion and worry. "He didn't specify _that_. The rip is contracting, but won't be gone for a few more hours. However-"

Uhura objected. "We can't leave them there! The _device_ is still out there, and unless we get it back the Gorn will be unstoppable."

Swallowing hard under the increasing pressure, Chekov continued. "I don't want to leave them behind either! I've been worrying about having to do it from the moment Keptin Kirk told me. But that's just it. He _ordered_ me. And I have to think of the _entire_ crew."

"Then _think_ of them! None of us want to abandon them here!" An officer shouted.

"If we go now, we could leave the others behind needlessly. We've got _hours_ yet before the anomaly shuts, and we still have a fighting chance of pulling out of this one successfully." Scotty said calmly, trying to instil the same feeling amongst the others. He failed.

The navigator continued, standing firmly and staring at Scott. "If we get attacked, and I do nothing, I will be breaking a direct order. That means a court martial. That is, if there a ship to have it on." Breathing increased, he frowned. "I want them back. They are my friends, they're like family. But how will I be able to face them if I risk the ship?"

"I'm sure they'll understand, Chekov." Uhura put her hands on her lap, leaning forward."Situations change, people have to act on the fly. We trained for situations like this. We've got plenty of time, so we have to stay and keep waiting. If the Gorn come, we'll have to hold our own and make sure the shuttle brings the guys back with T'Mar and the Helios device. Only then can we go."

Scott put a hand on the Russian's arm. "As long as I'm here, _I_ am the superior officer. I outrank you, laddie. Therefore, I _order_ you to maintain position."

Chekov offered a knowing smile that said _"Thank you"_ and began his focus on the new readings making his instrumentation beep.

Regaining his confidence, Scott sat back down in his chair, crossing a leg over his shoulder. "We're going to get back, _with_ our full crew compliment. You can take that to the bank. Now, evasive manoeuvres, pull us back and shut down all broadcast frequencies and non essential systems."

Several officers answered back with ayes and yeses. Hearts began racing. The reaction time and speed at which the crew worked was admirable. Making final changes to course and speed, Chekov pivoted in his chair and faced his acting captain with urgency.

"Sir, if we aren't going to leave, I would recommend we prepare to go to battle stations."

"No, Chekov. We kinna do that. The last thing I want to do is get us into a fight we will lose." Scott pulled his gaze away from the confused ensign and toward the rest of the people assembled at their posts. "They have a _fleet_ , we have _one_ ship. Very powerful, but limited. We have one job here; to get the device and the Vulcan lass and get back through that rip before the bloody thing closes!"

Uhura's concern rose. "If we don't make some preparations, and they have found us, it'll be minutes before they get over, damage us beyond repair and board our ship. If we go down, the shuttle crew don't have a chance!" Her muscles tensed with anticipation.

"Do you just want us to sit on our hands and do nothing?" Another officer asked, incensed.

This was the part of command Scott hated. He very much wanted to be back in engineering. But he couldn't be there now, his ship needed him. "Of course not. Those beasties are coming for us, but despite their numbers, they have a weak spot and we've got to find it. We need to play defence, not offence." He sighed at the continued confused, scared and angry faces that met him. "We are the only hope of _any_ of us getting out alive. If we go in now, it'll be over quickly. The Captain left _me_ in command, and I sure as hell don't want any of you getting killed because I decided to fire the first shot."

The woman at the helm controls brought the ship to a halt. Slowly but surely, the systems began shutting off except for bare minimums. Lighting dimmed on the bridge and in several halls and rooms, confusing commanders and ensigns alike.

"We're motionless, sir. Systems powered down, shields on high."

Uhura listened to her comm, nodded and then turned. "Transponder and identifying frequencies completely disabled. All contact with shuttle crew and external communications are dead."

Looking back out, Scott observed the face of the enemy. Evil, ruthless and treacherous, the Gorn were a formidable force as it was. They took over planets, destroyed colonies, poisoned people and killed others. The rest they captured tortured and enslaved. The chief engineer was sure they had the same plans for the _Enterprise_ and her entire crew compliment. Just like what has happened to the Lymax, and countless other civilizations... _Not today. Not on my watch._

A thought flashed through his mind. An image of the statue that had held such important meaning to the Lymax now held new meaning to him.

Through the cold, harsh conditions of the mountains and the snow, it stood, resolute and resistant. Like the Lymax, who through the over whelming odds found ways to survive, to fight, to not back down in the face of oppression and pure evil. Sucking in a breath, he addressed the communications station.

"Open a channel to the crew."

Uhura's fingers flicked a few keys. "Channel open, sir." Her voice was soft, her eyes open wide.

Now came his speech. In a few words, he would have to bolster up the morale of his crew. Without really thinking the words seemed to flow from his mouth effortlessly. He had an idea of what he wanted to get across, but was unsure whether or not he could rouse the same emotions Kirk could.

"Attention _Enterprise_ crew...this is acting Captain Montgomery Scott. As of now, we are going silent in an attempt to avoid being detected by the Gorn. They outnumber us and outgun us. We still do not know where Captain Kirk, Mister Spock or several other crew members are, but we have faith that they are coming back soon with the they will arrive soon."

Around the ship, people paused what they were doing and stared up from their stations and conversations to listen to the chief's hesitant but firm words.

"I know that if the Captain were here, he'd know just what to say at a time like this. We're all worried for him and the others. He would want us to maintain focus on our task. Like them, we are Starfleet officers. They didn't necessarily teach you how to face fear like this, but they did put us here on this ship because we are the best. I know that you are all frightened. Right now I am asking for your courage. In the face of danger and overwhelming odds we must be brave, we must not break. On that note, I command all non essential crew be confined to quarters for their safety. Only a skeleton crew will be allowed in main engineering, med bay and security. This is for your own safety."

The ship's population did not move. All were locked into the acting Captain's speech. Some shared looks of concern, others hugged for support.

"If the Gorn are allowed to control the device, they will be able to return to our system. We are not just fighting for our survival. Our home, our families, our worlds are depending on our success. I only expect the best from you all. Together we must step up and resist them at all costs. Now we must all wait and trust in each other. Scott out."

The bridge was silent. Bridge cadence sounded much louder than usual. The uneasy looks became hardened with determination. One by one through the dim red light, officers locked out their consoles and filed toward the turbo lift.

Emotionally distressed and exhausted, Uhura reluctantly got up from her station. Anxiety and worry lined her face. Spock and the others could be captured, and now they were on the brink of being located. She shot Scotty a look before turning to leave. As her eyes met the doors on the left, they began to fill slightly. She knew there was a distinct possibility she would never see Spock again. It took all she had to resist making an attempt to establish a link between them and the ship.

The acting captain was last to leave, heading for engineering.

"Captain?" Uhura spoke up from the doors.

Scott paused, turning back. "What, sir?"

"I want to stay. If Spock, or the Captain, or Sulu try to communicate, we need someone here."

Scotty considered this. "We need to lock down the bridge. Those greenies won't have much trouble getting over here, and when they do we don't want them having control." The sympathetic chief placed a hand on her slender shoulder. "He'd want ya to be safe. You know that."

"I want him to hear me first. I _need_ to be here."

Scott didn't have the energy to argue. His eyes shut as he exhaled softly.

"Alright, I'll give you access. You can monitor most of it from your quarters."

Much relieved, the comms officer stepped off the bridge, typing in an access code on the door that only she'd know. The emotional upheaval she was reeling with verged on destroying what little restraint she had left. Her training and control kept her emotions in check, but in hours, the one man she could be without had been on the brink of losing his life more times than he had been since they were first assigned to the ship.

For the first time in a while, the command center of the massive constitution-class starship was empty.

 **...**

 _Stardate 2259.33_

 _Gorn Planet – Complex Laboratories_

Down a long dark corridor, Spock hacked a door panel and bolted in, Vulcan repeater raised. Some boxes, a communicator, an active console and a energy port filled what was essentially a Gorn storage closet.

To the left, another long hallway ended at a door that took both men to hack into the encryption from opposite sides. When the double doors slid apart, the officers dove into cover. Kirk immediately noticed a slanted panel leaned up near a window.

 _T'Mar._ Someone was on it, he was sure. Avoiding the two Gorn and the camera view would make him have to take the long way around. Over the rail to his first officer's side, Kirk snuck quietly from console to tank, and then behind several boxes into a right angled s-bend tunnel in the floor. Moving into the shadows of an alcove, they barely missed being caught by a warrior on its hind legs looking around above them. Because the camera up and around the wall panned back and forth, timing their movements was important. Green light moved across the floor and tunnel, followed by the Human and Vulcan officers crouching into another alcove. After opening a vent, Kirk hacked and shut off the camera feed, cutting out power. The narrow shaft led into a bigger area that seemed to serve no purpose except to be as a juncture between vent systems. The ladder at the end led to a small hatch, opening just behind a console.

A slender blue female Gorn typed away at her instrumentations for a moment before staling down the decline and out of the room past a slanted up slab with a claw bent toward it. Kirk and Spock both found it very familiar.

"Spock. That looks like where Surok was..." _In the meld._ Right before he was killed. The image still had an awful effect on Kirk. He was thankful he didn't actually _see_ what happened, but his imagination filled in the awful details.

The first officer peering out beside him looked on with dismay. "It is similar, but possibly not the same. I believe the Gorn have many of these torture devices." The camera view Spock accessed revealed only bare floor. "We are clear, Captain."

"Good. Let's go this way." Kirk jabbed a hand toward the door leading out of the room. The female Gorn approached the far door from outside, slowly stepping past the torture slab.

The room across the hall was feet away, but Kirk did not want surprises. If T'Mar or someone else was alive in there, they needed to get in and out without being detected. No use rescuing them only to be caught by the Gorn and imprisoned as well.

A single warrior bolted upright at the sight of two humanoids targeting it. A single shot rang out, killing it and beckoning three others to transport in and take up positions. The lone female inside the room Kirk and Spock were in fell victim to the first officer's barrage. Two attack drones let off lasers, skimming the top of the console Kirk hid behind.

After dispatching another drone providing a warrior with a protective shield, Kirk locked his weapon on the trio of attackers shooting and reloading ahead. He picked off the one on the left with a head shot on the first try and angled the slim barrel of his rifle towards the middle warrior. Spock's weapon was quicker, however, pumping a cartridge cleanly through its neck. The last fighter took a coordinated effort to dispatch; one shot to knock its gun from its hands, another whizzed over its head, and finally a third through the side of its head sent it reeling backwards, dead. Kirk took out the security camera with a final blast.

Both officers took a moment to catch their breath. Kirk stood his rifle on its end, leaning on it less for support than out of reflex. "Hey," he asked, wiping sweat from his forehead, "did you get him or did I?"

Spock thought for a moment. "I do not think it would be appropriate to dwell on the question overly long, sir. Whether _you_ killed him or _I_ did is _not_ important. That he is no longer a threat to our mission _or_ our persons _is_."

Kirk took a long swig from his water bottle, pouring some of the contents over his head. "Yeah, you're probably right." He replaced the cap on the bottle and put it away. "I mean, it's not like we're keeping score or anything."

"Indeed, Captain." Spock sipped from his bottle efficiently and neatly. "Ironically, however, I believe _he_ would respect you if you _did_."

Kirk clicked his tongue and pointed an index finger at Spock. "And _that's_ why I'm glad I'm not a Gorn." He replaced the rifle on his back and stretched his arms skyward before continuing onward.

After a beat, Spock followed behind him. "I am certain that if given sufficient time, one could amass a number of reasons."Regaining energy, both officers headed for the room Kirk had seen earlier. The human form on it hadn't moved when Kirk had scanned it. He worried, feared he'd find only the worst. The voice that greeted them, however, was not the one they were expecting.

"I need help!"

Spock and Kirk flanked the restrained individual with torn clothing. Spock raised an eyebrow. "Commodore."

"We're gonna get you out of here, sir." Kirk began struggling with the restraints. Though he had anger for the man, Kirk did not want to just let him die. His respect for the uniform outweighed his distaste for the man wearing it.

Spock knew T'Mar was out there still, and so was the device. It seemed illogical to waste their efforts and time on the man who started this. "Captain?" he asked, confused.

Kirk clenched his jaw, trying to maintain his resolve. "He's a _Starfleet officer_ , Spock. We're not just going to _leave_ him here."

Daniels turned his head swiftly toward the Captain. Through the torture his voice was still clear. "This is your fault."

Kirk turned to face the Commodore's accusing eyes with disbelief. Irritation and shock came together. "What?!"

" _You_ led those things to the Starbase. _You_ did this to me!" The injured Commodore yelled, gritting his teeth at a twinge of pain.

Spock's eyes became inflamed with anger. He kept composed enough not to hit the man, but anyone could tell the Vulcan was ready to unleash on the Commodore. The man who had put so many of the first officer's people in danger for his own needs.

"It was _your_ ignorant and reckless need for recognition that opened the rip and brought the Gorn through! You abandoned your crew! You lied to T'Mar. Your actions _killed_ Surok. You-"

Guilt filled the Commodore's mind. He knew the Vulcan was right, but struggled desperately to vindicate himself. If he got out of here and back to Earth, he'd face death for sure. "Starfleet will believe me...they'll understand...My work would have lived on."

Spock narrowed his brows and leaned in. He did not want to wait for Daniels to continue. " _Commodore._ Where is T'Mar?"

The thought of his dying crew crossed Daniels' mind. The screams of pain and terror etched his face with pain for a brief moment. T'Mar was still with the Gorn, he was sure. "There is no hope of saving her."

 _Wrong answer._ Hands tugging the Commodore forward hard, Kirk repeated his first officer's request more forcefully. _"Where is she?"_

Daniels had failed his crew, and now he knew at this rate he and his two rescuers would follow suit. Torture and fear and guilt racked his mind. His eyes drifted away from the Captain as a bitter laugh came out of his throat. "You can't do anything to me they haven't already done, and worse." His voice was barely audible over his scratched voice.

"They will do to her, what they have done to the rest of us." At this point, half of him didn't care. Everything was gone. Everything was finished, everyone was dead...

Two Gorn burst into the room, causing Kirk and Spock to duck away. Both warriors began firing on the man on the slab. Daniels cried out with pain as several projectiles entered into him, convulsing against the flat surface he was restrained to. Kirk reached out in vain before racing up toward the two attackers with fury. Hand phaser out, he pelted the two Gorn and killed both quickly. His panicked face whipped back to the Commodore's still form. Spock felt his neck, searching for a pulse. He shook his head.

Daniels was gone.

Kirk felt his surge of anger and adrenaline give way to the guilt he'd felt for hours. Now he'd allowed Daniels to die because he couldn't act fast enough. His eyes went to the floor. Inhaling, he stiffened up and glared at his first. "Let's find T'Mar and go home."

"This way." Spock hacked a console that unlocked the outside doors. Both men ran down a very long hallway that went forward several meters before turning left, and then left again. Legs and arms pumped hard. T'Mar had to be close now. If the Gorn were upping their security here, that meant that their most important piece of stolen technology must be close as well.

Spock checked his tricorder. Interference blocked out the readings. There was only one thing he knew it could be.

 _The Helios device._

 **...**

Kirk was disappointed to find another empty room. It was wide and oddly shaped, suggesting the Gorn really didn't care how they carved out the spaces from the rock as long as they were big enough to fit them. Two consoles had clear glass displays giving readouts of something nondescript. Over half a dozen tanks filled with liquid and Lymax lined the back wall in groups of three, one being by itself in the middle. Supplies and more weapons filled the boxes against the walls. Two Lymax lay dead on the floor in their own blood.

It wasn't the disturbing sights that troubled both officers. As they made their way to the door and pried it open, they could hear nothing. No distant screams of anguish, no footsteps or weapons fire. Not a single alarm rang, and no Gorn vocalized to each other. It was dead quiet. Like a tomb. The darkened room beyond them only made Kirk feel even more nervous.

The hairs on the back of his neck stood up as a cool, damp breeze brushed his skin. Another entranceway beckoned, but something held him back. Spock looked right, Kirk looked left. They saw movement in the shadows, but not in one area. They were surrounded.

 _"_ _AMBUSH!"_

Kirk and Spock sprinted and dropped into cover as shots rained at them from the darkness from every direction in front of them. There was no room to move, to chance to shoot. Only fleeting images of Gorn heads and tails were seen as both men held down the fort.

"Their numbers are overwhelming. Surrender may be our only option!" Spock shouted over the deafening noise of blasting Gorn weapons. One hand gripped his phaser tightly while the other pressed against his cover.

"NO!" Pillager fire shot over his shoulder, close enough to feel the heat. "Don't give them an inch!" Rising up, Kirk fired back in the direction of the projectiles, before turning his attention to an enemy crouching on itsright. _I see you..._

Warriors kept rushing in, quickly diminishing Kirk's sense of accomplishment. No matter what they tried, more kept coming. Eventually, their ammunition would run out.

A wink of light caught the first officer's eye. Spock's keen vision did not miss an object flying through the air and sticking to the boxes they crouched behind. It blinked with light and began whining. His reflexes reacted to the threat seconds later.

 _"_ _Captain, grenade!"_ He threw himself at Kirk hard, knocking him back at an explosion lit up the room.

Kirk's vision dimmed and his ears rang. He put a hand to his head in vain. The weight of Spock's mass pressed down on his chest.

The last thing either man heard was the growling and snarling of approaching Gorn. Everything faded to darkness.


	15. Chapter 15

_Chapter 13_

 _Stardate 2259.33_

 _Gorn Planet – Unknown Location_

There was no way to know for sure how much time had passed between the explosion and their return to consciousness. After being rudely awakened, they were driven into a brightly lit room at the point of two guns. _Another torture chamber..._ As the platform rotated, Kirk saw a limp, badly wounded person restrained to prevent escape. Though judging by the amount of blood they'd already lost, it probably wasn't necessary. Green _blood..._

"T'Mar!" Kirk jogged forward with Spock away from their two guards toward the injured Vulcan. She did not open her eyes. Weakened and crushed from the hours of physical and mental torture, she could only softly groan and whimper. Her uniform was torn in many places, one across her stomach revealing a gash.

Desperately wanting to help, Kirk could only look on at the three guards surrounding them and frown. He had no weapons, and they did. Beside T'Mar, Kirk and Spock observed a strange circular computer screen reflecting blue and white energy.

A huge Gorn stepped into the room. Both men instantly recognized the familiar three-pronged horns on his head and a massive jutting V-shaped breast bone. This was the same Gorn they'd encountered on the Starbase. The same one that took T'Mar. The one who'd ordered Surok's murder. It was clear he was their leader.

Spock had had enough. He took a powerful step forward, directing a smouldering glare at the Gorn. Kirk reached out an arm in front of the Vulcan's chest, patting him with the other hand.

" _Easy_ , Spock. No need to go _full_ human on me."Kirk's gaze turned toward the Gorn commander. His imposing ten foot stature became more evident the closer they got.

He stabbed the air with a long, fat finger in the direction of the weakened Vulcan woman. " ** _Put the girl and the machine on my ship._** "He looked and sounded angry, growling at his officers.

A warrior squinted, asking curiously, " ** _What about these two?"_** as he pointed and looked between his commander and the captured Starfleet officers. The spines on his cheek and head moved as he talked. Rows of jagged teeth drew the eye away from its sunken collarbone. All the warriors he'd seen looked identical. _That's really strange,_ thought Kirk.

The larger Gorn brought its bulky head down to Kirk's level. Its red eyes stared intently into his, attempting to intimidate him. Kirk did not back down, glaring back defiantly. **_"Death is too good for these two."_** The Gorn growled, its lips flapping. Hot breath blew into the Captain and first officer's faces. Holding Kirk's gaze a moment longer, it turned and stomped out.

To the two Starfleet officers, everything the Gorn said was mere vocalizations and snarls. The apprehensive look they shared said it all.

 _What did that mean?_ Kirk could only guess, but he had a feeling it wasn't good news. A gasp of pain came from behind them and both heads snapped towards T'Mar. The woman struggled to lift her head, mouthing a few words slowly before sinking back onto the table again.

Kirk frowned. "What did she say?"

Spock watched her for several seconds, then turned to Kirk, his face disturbed. "She asked me to forgive her." He shook his head slowly. "It is not a request made lightly."

"She doesn't think-" Pain shot through his and Spock's backs as two husky Gorn enforcers jammed their weapons into their backs. Onward they were forced, toward an uncertain fate.

 **...**

Cautiously the two men entered under the rising door. They took short careful steps. Tired of waiting, the two Gorn escorts shoved the officers in the upper backs, causing them to lurch forward. As they turned back to glare at their captors, the Gorn snarled and huffed.

Once inside the pit, the two enforcers retreated outside the doors as they shut downward with a thud. The area the two men were left in resembled a gladiator arena. Several metallic pillars topped with glowing energy, like torches, provided no extra lighting with it being late day, but still sunny. Bodies of indigenous creatures littered the dirt covered ground. They still had their bows with them. A few rock piles concealed more bodies of some insect-like creatures that attacked Kirk and Spock earlier. Up high on the smooth rock wall, a few Gorn observed.

"What do you think this is all about?" Kirk asked perplexed by the surroundings he found himself in.

"I do not know. But I suspect it will not be pleasant." Spock's suspicious stare moved around the arena. Both men looked up as the Gorn commander shouted something neither could understand.

 ** _"Release the hordes."_** The muscular, rock solid creature crossed its arms and leaned back. It almost appeared pleased, eager to watch what was to happen next. An enforcer held T'Mar tightly around the shoulders and neck. T'Mar, standing on weak and shaky legs weakly struggled with it. The captor seemed amused at his victim's useless actions.

The sound of metal alerted Kirk and Spock to the doors on the other side of the arena opening. Spikes pulled up from the ground. Kirk's jaw hung open in horror at the realisation of what this was.

It was a torture chamber. He and Spock were to be killed, or eaten, alive. Two Gorn he knew only as "guardians" ran in, stopping to observe their next victims. Each wielded an energy axe. The two helpless men had no phasers, no rifles. Only fists, that couldn't block the formidable cutting tools their opponents had. Both began to charge.

"Uh...Spock...open to ideas here?" Uncertain and unafraid, the Captain found himself in the unusual position of not having a way out.

The Vulcan's mind raced. Though highly crude, the crossbows left by dead natives who had met a gruesome fate before them offered a hope. "I suggest we find weapons."

Kirk nodded vigorously. "Noted." Running back to a limp body, he scooped up a bow. It was basic in design and easy to load and shoot. Grenades also littered the ground, perhaps from Gorn they had killed. Snatching up two and whirling around, he could see Spock trying to avoid two giant axes swinging and jabbing at him. He could only shoot back when the shielding dropped, which gave him only three seconds before dodging the next swing.

Kirk fired at the closer one. Pulling back on the string, he loaded the back of the next arrow and pulled the trigger. One guardian flew back with a scream. The other succumbed to Spock's shot.

It would only be seconds before more attackers came. Kirk readied himself. "Spock, if we get a shot, we need to find a way to free T'Mar."

"Indeed, Captain."

Rushers beamed in as insects crawled over the wall and down into the pit. Kirk and Spock broke off in separate directions, taking out the rushers first. Each one came within feet of biting and clawing the two before slumping down and collapsing into the dirt. With lightning speed, efficiency and skill Spock scooped up arrows from a second weapon and loaded his depleted one. Arrows flew and insects squealed, getting skewered by deadly shots. Pulling a leg back from one rusher, Kirk brought the bow down on the creature's small head and fired an arrow into a second one racing for Spock. He dispatched the first rusher, then slammed down his bow onto two insects, crunching them with a sickening squishing sound. Spock ran around with tireless energy, dispatching enemies in quick succession and with precision that surpassed all expectations. Two more guardians provided little resistance against the ongoing assault. Though enemies swarmed them, the skill and speed both Human and Vulcan possessed proved no match for the hoards. Surrounded by bodies and awaiting more attackers, Kirk and Spock reloaded and readied. None arrived.

Spock panted, leaning on a rock near his Captain. "Their brutality is no match for _your_ marksmanship."

The Gorn commander was furious. **_"Scum! I will have your heads!"_** He leaned forward, sweeping his hand across in a chopping motion and pointing to the doors.

A door opened, revealing an imposing looking Gorn. The reptilian hulk had legs and arms like tree trunks and a body that was essentially all muscle layered in scales. A padded leather breastplate held up by a thick collar encircled its body; wide armbands wrapped around each wrist. It clenched its fists and let out an echoing, bellowing roar.

He didn't need weapons. He _was_ the weapon, being _at least_ eight feet tall and built almost entirely of muscle and bone.

Kirk drew back his head slightly."What the hell is that thing?"

Spock cast his captain a look of despair. The odds, as much as he didn't want them to be, were poor. "It _was_ a pleasure serving with you, Captain."

Kirk took off running, shooting a glance over his shoulder with frustration. "How about a little optimism, huh Spock?"

The Vulcan watched as the Gorn a distance away lifted a massive boulder with ease. "Would you prefer that I lie to you and tell you that this is going to be easy?"

Kirk pondered. _For once some positive thinking from you, maybe? Sure._ "You know, I might."

Now it was Spock's turn to be sarcastic. "Then, Captain," he said, changing his voice and facial expression to that of calm and placid, "...this is going to be quite easy." The boulder crashed to the ground with explosive force.

The Gorn charged. Both men scattered in opposite directions, each luring the Gorn towards them and then leaping and rolling out of the way. For all of its strength and speed, the scaly hulk could not easily turn at full speed. Every time it charged it missed. When it did hit the two of them, the force blew the scrambling officers back. Growing tired first, the hulk ran for a nearby rock pile and began heaving large stones at them.

Kirk fired arrow after arrow with no effect. To the thick hided Gorn, the projectiles were annoying, if anything. Most just broke on impact. Frustration and desperation hit Kirk in a wave.

"These weapons are _pointless_!" The arrow jammed in the bow. _Just terrific._

"Perhaps we should consider using the grenades." Spock picked up one and pulled out the clip, pitching it at the bent over Gorn. He expected the blast to have much more of an effect on the creature.

It did. The creature reacted, only growling louder. Small lesions formed on an arm where bits of chipped rock flew by it. The blast itself did not even cause the Gorn to stumble.

Spock was surprised, but did not raise an eyebrow. "Nothing appears to be working Captain."

Kirk winced. The blast was nearly point blank, and yet the reptilian beast hardly flinched. Spock ran as another boulder came his way. He met Kirk behind a rock pile, preparing to run again. "Perhaps if we had another weapon." Already the Vulcan was searching hurriedly around.

 _Oh, right of course!_ Kirk almost rolled his eyes. What was his first talking about? The creature obviously didn't care about arrows or even grenades. There was little left they hadn't tried. Stones, or maybe hitting him with the bows?

"Good idea, you didn't happen to sneak a photon torpedo into this place, did ya?" Kirk glared back at Spock, expecting the usual direct Vulcan response he was used to. Instead, the Vulcan only said nothing. It could have been that he was thinking, or that he was simply annoyed by being met with sarcastic responses at every turn. Kirk didn't care to determine which.

"Didn't think so."

Dashing away, he confused the charging Gorn long enough to aim and fire a futile shot before running for more arrows. The creature walked forward on a course to meet him, taking wide strides to catch his speed and swinging a mighty fist down, knocking the Captain to the ground hard. Endorphins in the man's blood bolted him up and away before it could charge and run over him.

Spock shortened his steps to bring his speed down. Oddly enough, he sounded calm again. "Captain, if we were to combine the items that we _do_ have, we may be able to create a weapon with significantly more firepower."

Kirk considered what they had; grenades and arrows. A smile etched onto his face, directed at Spock. _A grenade launcher, genius!_ "Worth a try."As he brought the weapon up to where he could attach the grenades, he heard a grunt. Spock was cast aside by the hulk they'd temporarily forgotten. Before Kirk could speak, two muscular arms lifted him of the ground. It looked like the Gorn was embracing him. _This_ hug was _not_ friendly at all. The wind was being pushed from Kirk's chest as he began to be pulled in between arms and muscular chest.

He was being crushed to death. His arms jammed the Lymax bow into and against the creatures face. Spock began punching the Gorn, hitting it, shooting it with all his might. A grenade placed wrong, after all would kill his Captain. The Gorn was single minded on ending Kirk's life, and that was it.

Weakened and dazed by the attack, Kirk raised his arms and prepared to perform a move in basic hand-to-hand combat he'd learned back in training. It was hard to do with a bow in hand. Or maybe that made it easier. In one surge of strength, his hands chopped down hard on either side of the Gorn's head. The creature finally showed its own weakness, dropping Kirk and letting out a high pitched groan as it held its head.

Kirk ran off, breathe still returning to him. "Take as many grenades as you can carry. That thing isn't going to go down easy." Both men targeted the creature who was now retrieving larger rocks to throw. The grenades missed by quite a bit.

"Damn thing's hard to aim." Kirk shook the weapon, pursing his lips.

"The _balance_ of the weapon is off due to the excessive weight of the grenades."Spock tilted the weapon up to show the bulky grenade at the bow's end.

"Then we'll just have to get closer." Which was precisely what Kirk hoped to avoid, but with grenades stuck to him, how much trouble could the creaturebe?

Spock ran, Kirk shot. The captain broke left ran, his first officer fired. The creature wasn't sure whether to confront his attacker or the fleeing man. Choosing the blonde haired individual only meant that the one with pointed ears would fire another grenade attached to an arrow, digging in and sticking its hide, detonating point blank.

Kirk felt as if he was playing a version of the child's game "chicken", only the car that came at him was always the same, and was the biggest and ugliest he'd ever seen. Just before the creature hit him, he launched a grenade-tipped arrow and rolled to safety. After several shots and several explosions, the bloodied and weakened Gorn became angrier, but slower. At last, Kirk drove a final arrow into it, blowing up with concussive force. The creature threw up its hands and head, letting out a cry as it dropped to its knees, and then flopped over onto its face.

Defiantly, and almost with great pleasure, the men dropped their arrows and glared up at the Gorn commander, who lividly sneered down at them. No matter what he threw at them, they'd fight it off. He almost felt impressed for their strength and skill.

 _Almost_. Rage filled the commander. His specialized champion, a pinnacle of Gorn genetics was dead, laid to waste by the two humanoids who refused to die. There was one thing he hadn't tried, but it would be a way to assure that both captives would succumb. This time, there was no way out.

 ** _"Make them fight to the death!"_** He growled.

Kirk shrugged, staring back at his first officer. His voice raised louder than usual. "Wonder what that's all about?"

Spock sensed the Gorn were not at all slow to act when they were determined to have their way. "I believe we are about to find out."

A drone hovered over behind Spock, grabbing his arms. The Vulcan flailed violently trying to get free. Kirk felt restrained by the two enforcers, one with a weapon and arms around its neck. He fought hard, but couldn't get his arms free long enough to rip the drone off of his friend.

Spock continued to thrust left and right, grunting with each resistance provided by the drone. Opening a semi-circular hatch, a long pointed spike extended out. With one hard yank, the Vulcan was pulled back and impaled on the needle. It dug deep into his back. Spock's eyes were wide and vacant as he let out cry cut short. His body went limp and fell to the dirt as blood leaked slightly from his uniform.

"SPOCK! NO!" Released, Kirk looked on in horror. He felt as if in a nightmare. Was his friend just injured? Was he dead? Kirk's face contorted, his eyes searching his friend for movement as his hand rested on Spock's shoulder. Desperately he wanted his first officer to be okay. How could he tell Uhura? Was this the Gorn's ultimate punishment or entertainment, letting him watch his friend's life slip away?

A blunt maurader rifle came down on the back of his skull, silencing his thoughts.

 **...**

 _Stardate 2259.33_

 _Shuttle Craft over Gorn Planet_

"I've got it!"

McCoy felt a rush of confidence. He grinned as he returned to the display screen of his medical analysis unit, which he had worked at for the last few hours . "Simulation checks out….sequences match. I just could use a test subject to confirm it works for everyone, but this is it."

The proud doctor extracted a small sample, holding the liquid in a small container up to the light. He could synthesize more, but for this moment he wanted to soak in the satisfaction of defeating yet another deadly infection.

From just outside, Sulu stepped in rubbing his hands together. "Thought I heard a shout." His eyes fixed on the small container. "Is that the cure?"

"Yeah, it took a while to isolate just the right amounts of antiviral agents, but this has an amazing effect of the test samples of virus we have." He allowed himself a moment to smile broadly at the masterful work of medical science he'd just performed.

Sulu tilted his head toward the door. "I've got main thrusters repaired and operational. That was the most damaged system. The rest of them Hendorff, Donovan and I jury-rigged into an operational state. Primary focuses was giving us flight and you light." He smirked. "Is everything holding up?"

"Everything looks good here." McCoy consulted the main controls. "Those lizards have got nothing on a Starfleet doctor, let me tell you. They may have cooked up a nasty little contagion in their laboratories, but _I_ have years of Starfleet medical technology, research, and good old doctor's instinct on my side. That's more power than all the shuttle's stores have."

"Not to mention a heart to care for my patients." He looked down and away from Sulu's gaze, either from frustration or embarrassment at the self-made compliment, he wasn't sure. "The sooner we go get the Captain and Spock, the sooner we can get back to my patients on the _Enterprise_ with the antidote. I don't even want to imagine what it's like to be sick with a virus like that…skulking throughthe halls like the undead, being forced to beat up yourfriends while you watch helplessly….and waking up feverish and delirious in sickbay…..pure evil, I tell you." McCoy frowned, almost crying.

"Yeah, I've heard the mumblings. The comms were alive with rumours." Sulu looked down at his feet. "Coulda been us with that stuff in us, and where would we be?"

"Dead, that's where." Hendorff stepped inside, followed by Donovan. Both men carried crates of tools inside as the doors shut behind them.

"Exactly." McCoy flicked the end of the tube with a finger. "Now that I've finally isolated the cure, a prophylactic dosage for the four of us wouldn't be amiss, especially for me. My hand _still_ smarts." _And I wasn't even bitten._ He reached for another clear glass vial, filling it below a faucet attached to the unit. He held the green liquid up to the light coming through the windshield.

"Sure, Doctor. Anything you want, just let us warm up a bit first." Hendorff held up a hand. The red colour slowly faded from their faces.

"Enjoy it, guys, you deserve it." Sulu offered a smile to the two men. "They were a big help, Leonard. They deserve it."

"I helped too. When I _could_ , that is." McCoy muttered. "Don't _I_ get a rest?"

"Sure, Doctor." Sulu strode back to the cockpit, putting a hand out toward the empty chair beside him. "Here, sit down and help me up here."

 _At least I can sit._ "You sure you can see through that snow storm out there?"

"Those flurries? Easier than you think." Sulu nodded confidently and began tapping a sequence of buttons on his controls on the flat rectangular glass panel, then jammed the handle in the middle forward. "I've flown through nebula clouds and asteroid belts without sensors. This should be nothing." His eyes never left the windshield.

"Guys, get buckled up. We're finally getting off this mountain."

There were sighs of relief and sounds of clicking belts from behind the pilot. Slowly but steadily the craft lifted off the rocks. Sulu continued to steer the shuttle, manoeuvring it out of the rocks and between the tight space between rock walls. The shuttle bounced on air currents, not too far from ground level before rising higher and soaring off the cliff into the open sky. Levelling out and attaining cruising speed, Sulu began studying his readings.

"No sign of the tower that shot us down. Any others are way out of range to hit us."

McCoy smiled. "I know why. It's completely disabled." Leaning closer, the Doctor analyzed the readings in depth. "In fact, the whole thing has been destroyed. It's a smoking, broken mess. The Captain and Spock must've gotten to it." Again he grinned. _Attaboy, Jim. You and Spock'll show them._

"Now we've just got to locate the Captain, Spock and hopefully T'Mar as well." The nose of the shuttle dipped. "Hang on, guys!"

"Why, where are we – _GOING_?" McCoy lurched back in his chair at the canyon floor below became larger by the second. Almost vertical, the shuttle veered to avoid birds and outcroppings before climbing sharply and steadying. McCoy clutched his chair arm with one hand and a vial of antivenin with the other. His chest rose and fell rapidly.

While the two red shirts in back were a little shaken, McCoy was a wreck. "Damn it, Sulu, couldn't you just fly overhead?" He could see his pilot suppressing a grin. "What? Is that fun for you, to scare me half to death?" Honestly, it seemed that Kirk was rubbing off on _everyone_ now.

"No. We've got to hurry, and this is the quickest down the mountain." Sulu firmed his stare out the window, glancing at his instruments to check the readings. No life signs that matched Human or Vulcan. He hadn't intended to startle the doctor. Still, he did enjoy the rush of the rapid descent they'd taken.

The topographical grid map on the screen showed the many outcroppings and rising mountains quickly giving way to the deep canyons and flatter lands. Several readouts blinked, indicating power readings and signatures. Though faint, there were definitely indications of subterranean facilities.

Sulu and McCoy's eyes flashed to their sides at the shuttle power displays, and then to the small vertical displays on the dashboard. Monitoring the various stations and readings took a lot of energy and attention.

A display began beeping. The shuttle was picking up the first readings of the life snapped to attention, but couldn't look away from his view. "McCoy, what is it?"

"I don't know..." McCoy said, attention now also locked on the outside scenery zooming by. Gritting his teeth, Sulu reluctantly drew his eyes down to the panel.

 _Right there._ One life sign, surrounded by several Gorn life signs. Two others were limp on the ground."Doctor?" He tugged the blue sleeve on his right. "You'd better see this..."

The doctor focused and magnified the images. Life signatures were faint, if even there at all. He immediately recognized the still forms as Kirk and Spock. They didn't move, remaining face down in the dust meters apart for several agonizing seconds. The doctor watching this hoped for any sign that they were still living. _Please don't let us be too late..._

There was none. They were getting closer, and the readings became gradually clearer. McCoy shuddered at the red icons that were his two closest friends. "Hurry up, Sulu! We need to get them out _now!_ They're getting killed down there."

"I'm...trying to maintain...control!" Sulu fought the controls, steering away from the cliffs. "You don't want us to crash _again_ , do you?" His gaze met the displayed still figures. He wanted more than anything to get in close right that minute. It seemed the planet's geography struggled at every turn to keep them away. Sulu's exceptional skills with the craft guided them safely out of the canyon.

Moving to the front, the two red shirts ignored what they'd learned about not walking around a moving shuttle, locked into the drama taking place on the planet below.

 _"_ _Three minutes!"_ Sulu'shead looked as if it was on a swivel, moving between readouts. He was doing everything he could. At the moment, he was actually astonished the modifications he'd made to the shuttle's engines were holding out under extreme pressure. _Good, but I need a little more._ Hopefully it would hold out.

 _"_ _Three minutes...approximately to intercept!"_

 **...**

Kirk's vision swirled just like the arena.

As much as he wanted to get up, his mind and body protested against it. He began coughing on the dust that choked him. Instinct told him to cover his own head, to get to his feet and analyze the situation.

His head, however, wanted to stay down. Pain throbbed in his skull. The acrid scent of blood teased his nose. It was not an iron-like smell like human blood. It was also not a copper-like scent like a Vulcan's blood.

 _Where was Spock?_

Kirk could barely open his eyes. The light hurt. Two palms encased his head, once again trying to stabilize himself. Heavily breathing, he pushed off the ground and got to his feet, only to feel his body weight pulling him down to the side. A few irregular footsteps to the side, he finally got his muscles to respond to his will, stretching upright. _Got to find Spock._ His heart clenched in his chest. Who knew whether Spock even still alive...

Across the ground, more coughing and grunting. Kirk's eyes widened as he saw Spock shove downward, bringing himself up onto one knee, head bent down. He was holding the back of his neck. _You're alive!_ Obviously, his friend was in great pain. He didn't care where any of the Gornwere. Whenhis friend was hurt, all thoughts of anything else flew from his head. Kirk took a step forward, his face sympathetic.

He stopped. Spock didn't appear to be in pain as much as he was in deep thought. _Is he muttering to himself?_

Finally Spock lifted his head. Something was _very_ 's left eye no longer had a pupil that Kirk could see.

It was pure white.

Determined and now filled with new purpose, he pushed on a knee and got to his feet, striding forward at Kirk and gaining strength with each step. He glared at Kirk with a look he hadn't seen since the day they'd gotten into a knockdown, drag out fight on the bridge. _That_ was after Kirk had provoked him, after Spock had lost his world and his mother. Right now, Spock had no reason to be this enraged. There was no emotion driving him.

That was wrong. There was one. _Hate._

Spock locked in on his target taking cautious steps ahead. His reasonable mind struggled to fight the raging surge of emotions that whispered in his ear.

 ** _Kill Kirk._**

 _No._ His face didn't show it, but the Vulcan became afraid, troubled about what he was going to do. He fought harder, but the voice kept coming.

 ** _Kill. Grasp his neck and break it._**

His will, his emotions, his logic. Everything tried to stop his body, to rip his mind away from Gorn control. He was failing. _Jim is my Captain...my friend. I cannot kill him..._

Kirk, meanwhile, continued to step forward slowly. The awful realisation of what had transpired finally hit his clearing mind. His first officer was not stabbed. He was infected with the Gorn virus, the one that made people kill each other indiscriminately. It would be bad enough if he was fighting another human. Spock was half Vulcan, and that alone gave him the strength to destroy Kirk.

The last time he had aggravated Spock in an attempt to prove to him he was emotionally unfit for command, Spock blocked every punch and ripped apart Kirk's defences. The security team and even Uhura had not been able to penetrate his raging emotions or stop him from landing punch after devastating punch into Kirk's face. Only Sarek, Spock's father, had stopped the Vulcan from strangling Kirk on Sulu's console. This was worse than _that_.

Up on the ledge, the Gorn commander growled. **_"Death comes for you!"_**

Spock continued storming forward. Kirk knew there were only so many places to run, and he could not out gun or out fight the furious infected Vulcan. His face became desperate. His only hope was to try to appeal to the Spock that was still in there.

"Spock! It's _me_!" Spock kept coming. _His emotional side is gone._ Kirk now tried his logical, rational side.

"I'm your Captain! I _order_ you to stop!" His best command voice did not even deter the Vulcan. As much as he hated this, Kirk would have to fight his first officer. Putting up fists and bending his knees slightly, he took up a stance and prepared to fight for his life.

Spock raised his clenched hands as well. Muscles tensed and heart racing, he fixed on his Captain and prepared to end him. For good, this time.

 **...**

"Firing now!" Sulu deployed a volley of torpedoes at a crowd of Gorn firing on the shuttle from the ground. The reptilian attackers disappeared into a blinding wash of blue light and exploding rubble.

McCoy couldn't focus on anything except the raging fight going on nearby. Spock, indicated in red particularly in his brain and spinal column put up fists and prepared to fight the Captain. Kirk mirror his action. _What the..._ "Spock's infected with the virus! He's gonna kill Jim!"

Sulu's face showed panic. _"I'm hurrying!"_

"When you get there, turn us around. I'm gonna get the antidote to Spock." Getting up quickly, he ran for the back of the shuttle, vial clutched in his hand. Donovan relieved him at his chair. The doctor began rummaging through supplies, his eyes skipping past kits, tricorders, energy packs and power cells. Finally, he pulled out a Starfleet tranquilizer rifle, brown and black contrary to the normal clean white of the type III rifles. It was his own, just as he requested. It was used on away missions he wasn't on, but he had a feeling he would need it on this planet. Holding it carefully, he checked the ammunition. He only had a couple of shots.

Hearing the doctor's request, Sulu squinted."Wait. _Give_ him it? How are you going to be able to get close enough?" Another phaser blast took of the next Gorn attack squadron as the pilot veered left and right.

"I'm going to administer it from here." He opened the rifle and extracted the dart, placing it between his teeth. "I'm going" – he opened the dart and filled it with the vial's precious contents – "on a little hunting trip," – then jammed the dart back into the rifle and set it with a click. "Hunting for Vulcans, the especially rare, crazed and infected type. I'd appreciate your assistance."

"Will do." Sulu responded. "It won't be easy to do that, though. Shooting from that distance, not to mention turning this ship like that-"

"You just pilot this thing, and leave the rest to me. Got it?"

The pilot nodded. "Yup. Good luck."

"Thanks." Even now, the Doctor could feel his nervousness growing, making his stomach swirl. He had one good shot, _maybe_ two. Hopefully the full amount of vaccine would be able to down and heal one psychotic Vulcan on a mission to kill. _I'm_ not _a covert agent. Never did I think I'd be a sniper instead._

 **...**

Though Kirk was trained well and could hold his own in any fight, he was no match for Spock's fighting prowess. The infection had removed all of Spock's ability to reason and resist hurting Kirk, but had not taken away his ability to throw a punch. He had the same training as Kirk, and also the Vulcan martial art of _Suus Mahna._ The technique was for multiple opponents, and typically defensive only.

By the look on Spock's face, this was _not_ defensive. The Vulcan would not just knock Kirk out. He'd make sure he was dead. That was, unless Kirk could fight him off.

Neither man threw a punch at first. Both took up defensive postures. _What isSpock waiting for,_ thought Kirk. By now he would have expected the infected man to have commenced the beating. _Was he holding back?_

Finally, Kirk had enough waiting. Fighting with his emotions, he swung a hard right into Spock's face. When it connected, Spock grunted and spit blood. His face then turned back, the same expression on it. It was as if he was robotic.

A return hit. Spock landed a fist on his Kirk's jaw, sending a trickle of blood across his face. Kirk recovered, knowing if he gave the Vulcan an open chance he was as good as dead. Spock was not the usual blur he had been in past fights. From his previous experience, Kirk had become better at blocking and attacking. Fists struck home on both sides, sending both men back and forth in what was becoming a battle to see which would go unconscious first. Both stayed on their feet, refusing to back down.

A struggle ensued. Kirk and Spock, arms locked and hands clasping shoulders and wrists, they grappled to knock each other over. Shove after shove tipped the two forward and back until finally in a burst of strength Kirk, somehow, threw the Vulcan away onto his back. For just a second, the captain wanted to check to see if he was alright.

Spock was fine. Where pain and logic would have otherwise deterred him, his adrenaline and the venom in his veins pushed him up to his feet. More punches flew back and forth, most coming from the older of the two officers. In one desperate attempt to stop Spock from delivering yet another crushing blow to his face, he threw a hard right jab, then a left hook. Taking a flying leap, the soles of his boots connected with Spock's jaw, sending him hard to the floor. Kirk jumped down onto his first officer, holding him down.

"I don't want to hurt you!" Kirk shouted, his face searching for a sign of the friend he knew. Flipping his enemy off of him, Spock clamped his hands down on his opponent's throat and began to squeeze.

Kirk felt his airway constricting. He wouldn't give up, couldn't give up. Hands tried and failed to wrench the arms away from his neck. His voice was strained. _"Fight through it, Spock!"_

A flicker past through Spock's eyes. He used all his strength to draw back his hands a little. Still the venom poisoned his mind, making him attack. Hopefully the room he gave Kirk would be enough for air to continue entering his lungs. _Please fight back, Jim...don't let me do this..._

As his eyes began rolling back, Kirk lifted his weakened head, staring past his first officer at a light in the sky.

 **...**

"There he is! Hurry, he's strangling Jim!" McCoy was hysterical. The worst part was that he knew Spock was merely a first person witness, not the real perpetrator. McCoy felt ill imagining the pain he'd feel if he played spectator to one of his patients dying, let alone Jim, or Spock. The thought of curing everyone and getting home gave him new confidence and energy.

Hendorff waited over his shoulder, anxious.

"I have a visual!" Sulu shouted with excitement. McCoy clutched the rifle he had held firmly and ran toward the back of the shuttle, getting on one knee. _Here goes nothing..._

"Open the door!"

Donovan saw something different. "We've got several Gorn, armed and aiming at our vessel."

Sulu did not react with concern. Instead, his hands rested firmly on the instrumentation, targeting the brunt of the shuttle's weaponry at the reptilian force below. He did not smile or let off a noise in excitement, but instead worked with precision and focus. He had a goal and he had a way t get there.

"Taking care of them now!" He leaned his head back against his shoulder. "Prepare for a hard right turn! Get ready, doctor!"

At the back, the Doctor mentally planned his motion. _Aim, hold, fire. Aim, hold, fire. Aim, hold, fire..._

 **...**

Shots rained down from the rapidly oncoming shuttle. Decimating Gorn and caving in corridors and rooms in the rocky caves, the craft slowed to a stop, hovering and rotating to face away from the struggling officers caught in a fight to the death, one that Spock was winning.

Seeing Gorn fighter ships were nowhere in sight, the Gorn commander heaved T'Mar onto his shoulder and ran back into the facilities, bolting after his retreating security team.

Kirk was now focused on Spock's face. It had not changed expression from the moment the Vulcan had grabbed his throat. Consciousness fading, Kirk held on tight with all his remaining strength. Somewhere inside his attackers head, Kirk knew his friend was holding off, trying his hardest. _If I can just..._ Kirk's thoughts and vision blurred.

A face came before his eyes, off to the side, a distance away.

 _Bones?_

 **...**

Lining up the barrel and closing one eye, McCoy prepared to discharge the single cure-carrying dart into the Vulcan's neck. The shot _had_ to be perfect. Who knew how long Kirk had left? From what he saw in his scope, he could read the signs on Kirk's face.

They weren't good. Kirk had only moments left. _Come on, Leonard..._

Easing his finger onto the trigger, the tensed Doctor leaned his head on the rifle butt. As comfortable as he could be, McCoy's mouth curved up as he allowed for the wind, adjusting appropriately. _A little left..._

His target moved only slightly, fixed and focused on the man pinned underneath. Spock's neck filled the center of the cross hairs. The slim rifle recoiled as he squeezed the trigger, sending the dart hurtling toward its target.

 **...**

As the high powered projectile struck Spock in his neck, his hands seized up and flew off Kirk's throat. Kirk lurched forward, coughing and choking.

Spock groaned, grabbed at the back of his neck and leaned back. Rapidly, the violent and angry voice that controlled his mind and body grew silent and gave way to the first officer's overpowering will power and mental strength. Overwhelmed by the sudden waves of emotions and fading adrenaline, the Vulcan shut its eyes, sighed and fell backward.

Regret came over Spock's face. Stunned by what he had almost done, he looked up at the man he'd tried to kill. "Captain?" he asked hesitantly.

Kirk had recovered and was much relieved to see the normal hues returning to Spock's face and eyes. Instead of hate and anger, he only saw guilt. He did not want a long winded apology for something Spock didn't intend to do. "It's all right, Spock."

Quickly the Vulcan felt himself returning to normal. The Gorn infection had subsided. "The antidote?"

Kirk smiled warmly down at his first officer, offering a hand to help him up. "Looks like Bones got it to work. You're gonna owe him one." Behind him the shuttle hovered in the air. McCoy shoved a square box toward the shuttle door.

"Dropping you a little care package. See if there's anything in there you can use!" The giant container slid off the edge and fell to the ground with a thump, popping open when it hit the ground.

Spock raised an eyebrow. "Looks like we will _both_ owe him one, sir."

Both men ran toward the box, retrieving replacement tricorders, communicators and phasers from inside. Kirk examined the weapon, switching its settings and feeling the weight of it. _Not what I'm used to, but it'll do._ He snapped it back to default and holstered it, then turned on the tricorder. "Just need to upload the information we've gathered so everything registered correctly. You all set, Spock?"

"I believe we can remotely connect to our other equipment."

 _Great._ "Bones, I'll be sending some coordinates to you. Make sure that when we get back to the ship, they get beamed on board."

"Why me? Aren't you coming?"

"Not yet! T'Mar is still captive, and we have a negative on the device." Kirk packed up his supplies onto his utility belt and raced off. "You meet us on ahead, we've got to go get her!"

"Got it. Stay safe, guys." McCoy tapped the doorway and shut the door. He shot a finger out in a salute as his visage disappeared. Spock hurried to catch up to his Captain, who climbed up the rocks and tore for the hall.

"Captain, I am sorry for any damage I may have done to your person."

A hand clapped the Vulcan's back. "It's okay, buddy. I'm good. Hey, I hit you too."

"I am alright as well." Spock replied quietly.

The race down the endless halls was gruelling and confusing; the two men fought and won the battle with their aching muscles and stressed minds. Only their tricorders guided them around corners and in the right direction to keep just behind the Gorn commander and T'Mar. No guards, sentries or drones blocked their way. They had to get out, had to rescue the Vulcan woman and the device before it was too late.

For everyone.

 **...**

After spending so long surrounded by damp caves and decay, the fresh air was a jolt to their systems. Kirk's legs and arms pumped back and forth as he searched the terrain for invaders. Twin waterfalls coursed over the rocks, foaming softly at the bottom; birds circled overhead lazily. _Knowing our luck, they're probably vultures._ Spock followed him along the gravel pathway in even strides, exerting himself far less than his captain. _Didn't take_ him _long to get back to normal._

Over a shallow river, Kirk located a small area matching the description Sulu had given him. "There! Let's go!"

"What about T'Mar?" Spock inquired, holding his gaze.

Kirk frowned, growing increasingly annoyed at their continuing failure to get her. "Those lizard guys still have her." He clapped Spock's shoulders and searched his eyes."But we'll get our chance. I _promise_." It was one he planned to keep. The Gorn _wouldn't_ get away.

"Now let's go catch a shuttle." Gravel and rocks crunched under his feet as he jogged past a dead Gorn and down the decline. Three Gorpion nests sprung to life, but the insects that emerged fell victim to a barrage laid down by Kirk and Spock. Before they made their way to the placid river waters, several Gorn beamed in on the opposite side of the expanse.

When the shuttle arrived moments later, it slowed to a hovered and spun as the pilot searched for a landing spot. Beams of energy collided with the underside. Kirk ducked beside Spock behind rock formations. Kirk pulled out his comm, speaking into the pickup. "Sulu, can you land?"

 _"_ _Negative, sir."_ The shuttle took off and circled back a distance away.

More beams of energy shot past them. "Then we'll need some cover fire!" _And soon._

Sulu, along with the others, were just glad to see their commanding officers alive. _"Yes sir! If you mark targets with your tricorder, we should be able to provide you with some air support."_

Kirk slapped his forehead grinning. _Of course, like before._ "Appreciate the help, Sulu," he called, removing the device from his belt and activating it. Now he just had to pick out the targets.

 _"_ _My pleasure sir."_ His hands tapped away, priming forward phasers. Readouts came alive and torpedo icons blinked on. _"Readying weapons."_

A pillar-like indicator on Kirk's tricorder narrowed rapidly until its blue colour became red. The beam highlighted an area three feet wide, right next to an approaching enforcer firing its maurader.

 _"_ _FIRE NOW!"_ The captain shouted.

 _"_ _Weapons systems locked on."_ A volley of crimson and indigo lights smashed into the ground, blowing away the fighters in a cloud of dirt and debris. Swinging the shuttle around in a wide arc, Sulu and McCoy reloaded and rearmed the primary armaments. _"Readying weapons."_

Another group of attackers beamed in, firing. Kirk felt as if he was running through a shooting range and had a target on his head. Spock pulled the modified Lymax bow off of his back and shot an arrow across the river. The subsequent explosion cut down or shook several Gorn. They were mad, and beamed in further assistance to help them. Whoever was the highest ranking member of their group urged them to focus their fire on the two invaders. In minutes, they'd get close enough to launch a direct attack.

Kirk didn't give them any more time. His tricorder remotely sent the coordinates of the next airstrike location to the shuttle. _"FIRE NOW!"_

Sulu promptly pulled the shuttle into a dive past the Gorn fighters, drowning them in fire and torpedo blasts. Straining to see the rendezvous point they'd agreed on with Sulu and McCoy, both Kirk and Spock were greatly relieved to not see any Gorn, or any transporter beam-ins. The ground was a field of reptilian bodies.

Kirk jogged through the shallow waters. "We made it, Mister Sulu."

The helmsman's voice on the comms was crystal clear. _"We have visuals on you both. On our way."_

With a loud, descending whir the shuttle pulled in and turned to bring the rear around in front of Kirk and Spock. The younger of the two put a hand over his eyes to block out the intense sunlight and waved with the other. After the horrible and exhausting experience they been through, both men on the ground were given new strength with the prospect of being back in familiar and less bloody surroundings.

Cutting reverse power and firing the thrusters on the shuttle's underside, Sulu brought the craft to a low hover and automatically flipped the door up. Turning over his shoulder, Sulu nodded with a suppressed grin at his Captain and first officer.

Human and Vulcan shared a look. With a clap on the back from his friend, Spock ran forward and leapt into the waiting craft, turning and pulling Kirk in after. The door shut immediately with a pneumatic hiss.

Spock nodded, acknowledging the relieved looking red shirts. They both grinned broadly at him, coaxing a slight smile of his own in response. Kirk passed by them, eyes fixed on the cockpit. His mind was focused on one thing, and one thing only.

"Sulu, activate scanners. I wanna know where that damn Helios device is."

Anticipating his request, Sulu had already begun the search for the device. His initial excitement was replaced by straight professionalism. "Scanning..." The silence that followed only heightened the tension that already existed in the air. McCoy, who had remarkably remained silent, regarded Sulu's confused face with worry. _Not good..._

Sulu frowned and turned back to his captain. "The device appears to have been moved onto one of their ships."

McCoy flinched at the rapidly beeping display in front of him. "Jim! Readouts are going nuts over here!" He whipped his head around. "Something's happening."

One hand on the back of the doctor's chair, Kirk leaned forward and stared out the front window. A loud, low humming noise almost drowned out the shuttles engines. Rising up from behind a mountainous ridge, a large Gorn vessel moved into view.

"What the hell is that thing?" It reminded Kirk of the vessel he and Spock had fallen from. _That_ was a memory he wanted to forget.

Spock's tone was grim. "I believe the Helios device has been reactivated."

That meant more rips, and more Gorn invasions would follow. Despite the reptiles' intelligence, there was no way they could no how to turn the thing on. That is, unless they were utilizing the one person who _did_ know. A single muttered word escaped his lips at the realisation.

"T'Mar."

Spock's expression, voice and inner feelings did not change. His face was drawn, his eyes downcast. Logical reasoning resulted in the conclusion he wished was not true. "It would stand to reason that they are using her to operate the device."

That meant digging into her mind for the necessary information. The Gorn had already shown the ability to do so. The situation was quickly moving off the planet, and they would have to follow. The shuttle alone couldn't handle the veritable armada that awaited them. Kirk, Spock and the other four needed help from the only friends they had in the vast darkness of space that until today had never been discovered.

"Mister Sulu, get us onboard the _Enterprise._ We can't tackle those things alone."

"Aye, sir." Guiding the handle forward, the _Enterprise_ helmsman engaged main propulsion, rocketing the shuttle into the sky and toward the edge of the atmosphere.

"Jim, Spock. I'm glad we got to you two in time." McCoy placed a hand on the blonde haired Captain's shoulder. "Damn Gorn don't just kill prisoners, they torture them, experiment on them, or make them crazy enough to kill each other. No merciful, quick deaths for POWs."

Kirk huffed. "Yeah, Bones. I know. I'm just relieved that we didn't go through that."

"I am relieved as well, Doctor." Spock regarded McCoy with a friendly look. "Your accuracy was commendable. I can imagine that there was a high level of difficulty in the execution of such a shot."

Kirk grinned as well through his otherwise frustrated expression. "Yeah, good shot, Bones. And great work with the antidote."

The now embarrassed doctor blushed. "It was nothing." _Actually..._ "No, scratch that. It was incredibly difficult. Do you know how long and how hard it was just _isolating_ the right antivenin that would kill the virus without hurting the patient? And then trying to shoot my first officer without hitting the Captain, while said Captain is being strangled by said first officer?" He sighed, his eyes widened.

Hendorff put an arm around Kirk. "Hey, glad to have you back, sir. You two really had it tough."

Spock took a seat nearby, buckling his seatbelt. "Our circumstances required every ounce of strength and energy we had to overcome them. We did encounter some...difficult situations and saw things that we would rather have not discovered. The indigenous species have been captured and tortured by the Gorn."

 _"_ _Lymax."_ A bitter voice responded.

Spock raised an eyebrow, perplexed by the answer he got. "Doctor?"

McCoy gave the Vulcan a pained look. "They're called the Lymax. That's what Uhura and Scotty told us earlier. I just thought they shouldn't be forgotten."

Silence filled the shuttle.

"What? I would've thought you'd say something like 'Fascinating' or –"

Spock looked almost offended. He carefully measured his words, making his stance clear. "Doctor, I do not take any joy or _fascination_ from witnessing the natives being subjected to any pain and suffering. My scientific curiosity does not extend to this." His eyes lowered. "I am shocked that you have this opinion."

McCoy grew angry, but not at Spock. _"Damn Gorn!_ I'm not mad at you, Spock. I just feel sick thinking about what is going on down there."

After another silence, a security officer addressed Kirk. "What was it like?" Donovan inquired.

Kirk groaned. "Oh, where do I begin? The ugly looking deranged dogs, the suicidal insects with giant pincers, the Gorn fighters everywhere, the enslaved natives, infecting Spock as forcing him to kill me..." Kirk snapped. "It was _amazing._ You should try it."

Seeing his officer's stunned and withdrawn look, Kirk felt regret. "Sorry, I just – it was a lot to see. I don't ever want go back there. But we've got a job to do, a mission to complete. No time to think about that right now."

Truth be told, after what they'd seen on New Vulcan and the Gorn planet, Kirk would never forget it. Never forget the fear, the sights, the sounds. This was what gave soldiers PTSD. Kirk wasn't going to break, and neither was Spock. But the trauma and horror they'd seen would drift through idle thoughts and late night dreams for a long time to come.

His face softened and voice lowered, Kirk regarded his crew one by one. "I'm glad you guys are safe. Even you, cupcake."

Hendorff did _not_ appreciate the academy knick name Kirk still used for him. It was directly contrary to his size, toughness and strength that made him a perfect security officer. Kirk had chosen him personally. "Sir, please..."

Kirk smirked. "Sorry, G.P. Couldn't resist." Slowly the tension began to ease and relaxed expressions returned.

Spock nodded. "I share the earlier sentiment. I _did_ worry for your safety while we were gone."

McCoy stared out at the gradually darkening sky as the shuttle pulled farther and farther into the planet's atmosphere. He chuckled. "We had nothing to fear with crack-shot Sulu here." His head tilted toward the confused pilot.

Kirk's eyebrows rose. " _Crack-shot?_ Would you tell me that story later?"

Fixed on his instruments, Sulu did not crack a smile. "Maybe, if I have the time."

With a jolt and a rattle the shuttle broke free from the planet's gravitational pull and whipped out into space. Thrusters at maximum impulse it would be only moments before the large grey body of the _Enterprise_ would be in view, if you knew where to look. Sulu did. Interference aside, now was the time to utilize all the starship had to offer. In this case, he couldn't. With a galaxy to save, a device to take back and a Vulcan woman to rescue, it was imperative. They had no other viable options left. It was that or failure.

Kirk did not accept failure. He didn't recognize the word.

 **...**

 _Stardate 2259.33_

 _Shuttle Craft – En route to USS Enterprise_

"Kirk to _Enterprise._ " Nothing.

Kirk's heart dropped. No static, no interference over the comm. It was dead. _Where are you, guys..._

Judging by Spock's grim yet quizzical face, he too was thinking what all six crewmen were thinking. "Perhaps they have gone back through the tear." As Kirk had ordered before they left, Chekov was in charge of seeing that the _Enterprise_ got back through the tear to safety. Away from the Gorn, away from danger. Away from _them._ McCoy was frantically gazing at the displays as if willing them to pick up a signal.

 _No, they haven't..._ Sulu's shocked face illuminated in orange light. He became unable to tear his gaze away from the image that now filled the front monitor. "Uh...Captain? You might want to take a look."

Spock was already regarding the view outside. Kirk squinted and leaned over the forward console in shock. McCoy froze, clenching his teeth, looking deeply disturbed. An ocean of orange light and debris surrounded the tethered hull of the _USS Enterprise._ Yellow beams of energy arcing out from multiple Gorn ships tethered it in place and did considerable damage to the outer hull. Shuttles drifted aimlessly about amongst pieces of metal and conduits. The Constitution-class starship seemed to be in a trap.

"What the _hell_ is that?" Kirk said breathily.

Analyzing what was playing out, Spock answered. "It appears that the _Enterprise_ has been compromised."

Anticipating the Captain's request, Sulu pivoted in his chair. "There's no way I can get us through that, sir."

Kirk needed to get back to his vessel. Needed to save his crew. Nothing would stop him now. They're only hope to stop the Gorn was to have the crew on their side. "Maybe _you_ can't, but _I_ can."

Spock turned to the Captain without hesitating. He was not expecting his Captain to choose to go there with the multiple tethers and large pieces of debris blocking the way in. "You are _not_ considering –"

"–no, _we_ are not considering." Kirk knew they had no time to argue. He shoved the helmet into Spock's chest, then grabbed his own and popped it onto his head. Turning over his shoulder, his eyes met Sulu's. "We'll signal when it's safe to come over."

"Aye sir."

Adrenaline racing once again, Kirk felt his stomach clench as he bent over to reach the rocket sled on the floor. "Ready?"

"Indeed."

Hendorff eyed his Captain. "Good luck sir!"

Determination surged through Kirk's system. "Let's go get our damn ship back!"He inhaled and blew out. Behind them, a force field came down. Then the door opened, exposing them to the vacuum pressure. The two officers vaulted forward and into open space in the violent torrent of air leaving the compact section of the shuttle.

An initial cloud of white and brown plastic and metal fragments made the flight difficult. At their velocity, a single piece could shatter the face shields that provided them air. Once clear of the first danger, Kirk immediately swung left and right, avoiding vacant shuttles, shattered hull plating and burnt rebar. Gorn ships flew by in wide arcs. Aiming forward and extending his body to be as narrow as possible, he barely fit through a hole made by broken piping through a section of wall.

 _"_ _According to my approximations, we have less than three hours until the tear closes."_

 _"_ _The Enterprise isn't going anywhere until we deal with those things."_ Kirk adjusted his heading, skimming under the saucer section as another tether shot into the ship's hull. Along the body of the vessel, he bent left away from yet another tether over top the main engineering section. With a clean movement he threaded between the nacelles cleanly. _Not even a scratch._ Fifty feet behind him and on his seven o'clock, Spock leaned sharply and cut between the two warp propulsion engines that were uncharacteristically dark.

 _"_ _We can enter through one of the auxiliary exhaust ports in engineering."_ Now in a dive, both men zeroed in on the remarkable still functioning port that opened automatically. Passing inside would trigger the auto lock.

Inside first, Kirk put his feet down awkwardly and slipped. The rocket sled powered down and skittered away. As if on an ice sheethe skidded, almost glided helplessly feet first along the length of the floor. Arms flailed as he grabbed for anything that would stop his rapid uncontrolled approach down the hall. At the end, his soles met a stack of storage containers. The pile toppled to the floor, burying the Captain underneath. He let out a groan, clapping a palm down.

Spock landed quite effortlessly, powering down his rocket sled and laying on the floor. As he removed his helmet, Kirk could swear he saw a slight curve form on the corner of his mouth.

"Perhaps you need some additional practice on your landing techniques, Captain."

Though he knew Spock a while, as a great first officer and a good friend, the Vulcan always seemed to surprise him with something else. His first was enjoying his plight. Kirk couldn't be mad, because had they been in each other's places, he'd be laughing out loud. Moving from under the pile, Kirk yanked off his helmet."What are you complaining about, Spock? We got in, didn't we? Now let's get her back."

As Kirk _did_ expect, Spock's expression was unreadable in his response. "Agreed."

"Sulu, we're on board."As Kirk addressed his comm, Spock began trying to establish a secure communication with another officer onboard he did not know the whereabouts of. Without a response, he submitted a typed message and re-holstered his comm.

 _"_ _Good to hear it, sir. Any chance of beaming us over there with you?"_

 _"_ _Yeah, and the sooner the better,"_ McCoy chimed in, eyes on his companion. _"I don't think I can take anymore of Sulu's fencing stories."_ Laughter dinned in the background. _"You just be vigilant. Those damn Gorn have probably overrun the_ whole _ship by now. I can only imagine what they're like in the dark. They don't just "bump" in the night, they'll bite your head off and poison you in the night too!"_

To Kirk, McCoy was like family. He always did enjoy his way of exaggerating things, and like now, it usually triggered a smile from him.

On a normal day the long row of stations and bubble-like screens would each have a man on them. The hall would be alive with activity. The darkened lights and vacant chairs told Kirk all he needed to know. Either his crew was captured, locked away or they were...

They couldn't be. Kirk knew his crew were the best. He and Spock had come too far, been through too much to fail now. Though they'd have to take back the ship fast, Kirk would not be deterred from his goal to get the T'Mar and the device back. His mind frequently wondered how much time there was left before the rip closed.

Flanked by two wide, orange pipes, the darkened engineering room provided no sign of life. The stressed hull groaned from the Gorn energy tethers. A few minor systems hummed in the walls and in the ceiling. Water rushed quietly through the piping. Other than that, it was like a tomb. Nothing could be heard.

"Captain, if we access that terminal, we may be able to beam them over." Spock was talking about a single active console suspended on a short pole. Though normally used for moving equipment and requisitions, this transporter would have to do. Acknowledging his Captain's approving look, Spock ran over and immediately began working on making modifications to the transporter's pattern enhancer.

Kirk whipped out his comm. "Gentlemen, prepare for transport."

Spock continued, already mapping out several logical courses of action in his mind. "Mister Sulu, once you are onboard, head immediately to the officer's quarters. It would be advantageous to our mission if you could discover a way to disable the Gorn's tethers."

 _"_ _Understood,"_ the response came.

Kirk cut in. "Bones, get to medbay. We may need your help with the infected." Actually, they _definitely_ did.

 _"_ _On it."_

"Captain, for some reason I cannot beam directly to sickbay." Spock said as he pivoted on a heel.

 _"_ _There's probably a quarantine field up. Breaking up the signal, no doubt."_

Kirk tilted his head sideways. "Well, then. Hendorff, Donovan? Looks like you're gonna be escorting the Doctor there."

 _"_ _Aye sir!"_

McCoy bit his lip. _"Jim, I don't think that's necessary, I –"_

"Bones, no sense taking any risk, right? Hendorff, you and Donovan get him there, secure the area and stay there. If you can, however, try to touch base with security." He turned to Spock, flipping his comm off. "Energize."

The pertinent controls beeped in response to Spock's fulfilling of his Captain's request. Four crewmen disassembled and reassembled safely on board the _Enterprise_. When he finished, he attempted to catch up to Kirk who was already hurrying along around the maze of pipes and conduits, under a walkway on the second level.

"Scotty? If you can hear me, please respond." With baited breath, Kirk awaited the familiar Scottish accent that he expected should answer back. He stopped, listening for anything he could hear. His ears could not perceive it.

Behind him, Spock's form, shadowed by the walkway looked grim. "We must consider the possibility that Mister Scott is infected or... _worse_." His voice betrayed the solemn worry and apprehension he felt.

From somewhere dark and locked away in engineering, Scotty scrambled across the floor and fumbled with a communicator he left on his work station. Pulling it down to where he sat, he put the pickup to his mouth, whispering. _"Captain, I'm here..."_

Though quiet, to Kirk his voice was loud and clear. "Good to hear your voice, Scotty," he said between sighs of relief. Spock's face relaxed.

Clutching his comm and smiling for the first time in a while, Scotty closed his eyes. "Back at you, sir."

 _Down to business._ With the weight of many concerns on his shoulders, Kirk had no time to dwell on his concerns for one man, even though he was a friend. "What's the status of my ship?" He began walking, eyes shifting around the room.

Eyes dancing across the readout at eye level, Scotty shook his head in dismay. _"She's in pretty bad shape, sir. Those greenies have the bridge. The warp core is down. Emergency life support is holding but I don't know for how long."_

 _Life support._ That meant the crew's ability to breathe air and not freeze to death. Of course, with the warp core dead, the ship couldn't even _move_. They were stuck there for the foreseeable future. The Gorn were diverting power away from key systems just as they had done to Frontier Starbase. Though tactical and efficient, Kirk knew that the sadistic lizards took pleasure out of watching their enemies suffer for as long as possible.

Spock paused, clearly taking in the severity of the situation. "Captain, if we are ever to return through the rip, it is essential that we get the warp core back online."

 _Tell me something I_ don't _know..._ "It's at the top of my list, Spock." He lifted the comm to his mouth. "Mister Scott, we're on our way to warp core."The two raced into the lift and took off.

 _"_ _You wouldna mind checking for Keenser while you're down there, would ye?"_

"He's gone _too_?" Kirk shut his eyes and leaned his tired body against the turbo lift wall.

 _"_ _Bloody Gorn have split us up. I ordered everyone to lock themselves away in their quarters, but I kinna contact him now."_ Scott knew what that could mean. A shiver went up his spine. _"Don't you ever hate the situation we're in? Not being able to do anything?"_

"We _are_ doing something."

 _"_ _No, Captain, I mean about the Lymax. We're bound by the Prime Directive to stay out of their contact."_

"It is in place to protect species' from outside interference, and remove the risk that their culture and history may be permanently and irreparably changed." Spock replied without hesitating.

Scott was not deterred in the least. _"Yeah, but what about extinction? Those poor indigenous Lymaxes...Lymaxi...Lymaxians...who cares what they're called? Come on, Spock, Captain."_ He was pleading. _"You kinna tell me you could just turn your back and do nothing when you see something like that."_

"We _had_ to, Scotty. Even if we weren't disallowed, we simply don't have time." Even as he explained, Kirk began to question it himself. "Me and Spock made the difficult decision to leave them behind because we couldn't do anything for them. We _can_ do something for this ship, the crew, the others who haven't and will be attacked by the Gorn."

Scott couldn't argue with those points. But still the idea of having to sacrifice some people for many more troubled him. Who gets to choose who lives under oppression and who doesn't? _"Aye, sir. I'll see you when you get here."_

Both Kirk and Spock deliberated silently in the turbolift. Each one's thoughts were their own and not expressed outwardly, but they were on the same wavelength. How much more would they have to go through? How much had the crew suffered in their absence? With the knowledge of the rapidly decreasing time frame they had to get home, Kirk stretched and prepared for another intense series of battles with the Gorn invaders.

 _Let's do this._

 **...**

 _Stardate 2259.33_

 _USS Enterprise – Unknown Area_

 _Where are they?_

Keenser peeked through a sliver of light between the components of his hiding place. A low thumping caught his attention, and he stilled, listening, relaxing as he realized it was his own heartbeat. The sound was almost foreign to him, as he spent most of his time in a very noisy section of the ship. The thrumming of the warp core didn't allow for the appreciation of one's _own_ systems.

Movement darkened his peephole, and he shrank back into the shadows as a Gorn lumbered past his position. It paused once to sniff the air. Keenser held his breath. _Smell me?_ No; the creature continued on its way, rounding the corner with a snarl before a bright glow of golden light preceded its disappearance.

Keenser waited a few seconds before allowing himself to breathe again. He peered intently towards the corner. The motionless form of Science Officer Earl laid there, arms splayed out at the sides like a forgotten ragdoll. Having been there when he came in, Keenser was too scared to move or call out for fear he might be found and killed. His squat stature made running away difficult, he suspected that was precisely the reason he was placed on Delta Vega's research facility.

Somewhere out there, his best friend whom he'd met on that research station worked to save the ship. Was he okay? Was he injured? The chief had been in main engineering when he'd last checked, but the shorter of the two lost his communicator scrambling into cover.

 _Please be okay, friend..._


	16. Chapter 16

_Chapter 14_

 _Stardate 2259.33_

 _USS Enterprise – Warp Core AccessTerminal_

Before the doors parted, Kirk had already stepped out, phaser aimed and pointing around the area. Fire burning a doorway to his left illuminated the space, casting large shadows from the tables, stools, and a toppled glass display panel. After he was satisfied there was no movement, he scanned the room with his tricorder.

 _No activity. Probably shut down intentionally._ Putting a finger over his mouth, Kirk addressed Spock and then crouched down a dark hall into the control room, crouching up against a large bulkhead. Though slightly better lit, the room was still difficult to see in. Slowly the Captain poked his head around the corner beside Spock's.

"The entrance to the control is through that door but the hostile presence here is significant." Spock's whisper intonation was deceptively calm. The room was just as the Vulcan described. Mines were carefully laid on the floor and on pillars that functioned as security terminals. In doorways to the right and left, two turrets sat crouched and dormant. To top it all off, three Gorn skulked around the room inspecting displays and looking for crewmen. Kirk saw the display over the two rounded consoles in the center of the room.

CONDITION RED EMERGENCY EVACUATION

To the First officer's surprise, Kirk answered with an unusual level of confidence. At least, it was unusual for most people. Not for the Captain.

"No problem." Kirk pointed at a mine located down a few steps and on the floor. "Try to hack that mine." While Spock proceeded to do so, Kirk observed the other mines and the gun turrets. All could be reprogrammed with the same algorithm. The almost impenetrable checkpoint that the Gorn had set up could quickly become a death trap.

Tapping a few icons on his tricorder, Kirk projected an echo. A slender red female Gorn vocalized in a curious tone, quite different than the ones it had made previously. Ravager raised, it stalked toward the mine just as the indicator went from green to grey, and then yellow. The inside mechanism ticked, and then exploded. The force threw the screeching Gorn into the air and over the console.

When a warrior came to investigate, walking toward another mine adjacent to the first. Kirk hacked into it quickly. In seconds, it and the Gorn were neutralized.

Moving carefully down toward the turret, the Captain dodged into cover behind boxes before the detection lasers touched him. With a few seconds of intense focus on his display screen, Kirk altered the parameters of attack, rendering the weapon harmless. To him and Spock, at least. Once all the explosives were disabled and the other turret, Human and Vulcan assumed positions behind a computer console eyeing the last Gorn that idly patrolled back and forth past the door.

"They've got reinforcements, I know it." Kirk clutched his phaser.

With an arched eyebrow, Spock observed the room, and then his Captain. "If they are coming, then here would be the best place for a showdown. They would be walking into our trap."

"Exactly." Aiming carefully and waiting for the perfect moment, Kirk fired on the remaining Gorn. Instantly, several more, all identical in basic appearance beamed in one by one.

"It would appear their _reinforcements_ have arrived." Spock remarked. Each Gorn was, to their surprise, vanquished by their own armaments. Kirk and Spock barely had to fire another shot. If the reptiles didn't materialize on top of the mines, they ran past turrets which quickly and summarily filled them with streaks of energy. When the shooting and screeching stopped, the floor was covered in bodies.

Stepping over a limp form, Kirk noticed a screen blinking. Willing his eyes to focus, he noticed the level 6 lock enabled on the door.

"Forget to tell us something, Scotty?"

 _"_ _I was able to lock down the warp drive control room which kept those pesky buggers out but..."_

"...it'll keep _us_ out too?"

 _"_ _Aye, sir."_ Scotty sighed dejectedly, looking at the still active readouts. One particular one lit his face back up. _"But you should be able to override the locks using the main control panel in the center of the room."_

Spock strode forward and tapped on a panel. "Understood."

"Spock, I need your help. I can't crack this system alone." Fingers flying and minds racing, the two input access codes and overrides, eventually unlocking the door. Power initiated with an ascending whine. Kirk was first to run, shooting out one last mine before opening the doors and moving into the engine room. Though illuminated deep red, the damaged area forced Kirk to use his tricorder to see. He didn't need it to hear a large enforcer stalking overhead. Through a hole in the floor, it came down hard and lumbered away. From behind a barrel, Kirk and Spock both fired, taking it out instantly.

The formerly functional lights now sparked, dangling wires. Up the stairs, Kirk aimed and fired, taking down a second Gorn. Going the long way around, the only way because debris blocked the direct route, the two men urgently made their way along toward main engineering and the chief's location. An unconscious man, obviously infected by disease, lay sprawled along the wall. After tagging him for transport, Kirk and Spock worked to pry open the door.

The room behind these doors was perfectly ordinary; there were many like it all over the ship. Kirk glanced around the room, taking note of his surroundings; an unconscious science officer lying on the floor; a pyramid of storage containers blocking off one corner... _Perfect hiding place..._

The thought barely formed when a clattering sound came from behind the spun towards the corner, tiptoeing, his weapon held out in front of his chest, motioning for Kirk to follow.

Hearing more rattling, the younger man motioned with his phaser. "It came from over here."

The Vulcan tensed, preparing to meet his surprise attacker. Yet at the same time, he found the situation odd. _Given everything we know about the Gorn thus far, their cunning...if it_ is _an enemy combatant, he is being rather clumsy._ Nevertheless, he matched Kirk stride for stride, never lowering his repeater. Closer, closer...

They halted and pointed their weapons over the side of the boxes. A small figure hid his face in his arms, as if preparing for the worst. Realizing he was surrounded, he stiffened, throwing his hands up in the air, shaking like a leaf. A figure decidedly _not_ reptilian. Clad in a red officer's uniform. Kirk covered his face with one hand. _Great work, Captain Kirk. You almost blew a hole in one of your own men._

Sighing, he shot a relieved gaze at Spock, then met Keenser's startled one, his gaze softening. "Crewman. Let's go." Swinging his weapon away from the officer's face, he watched as the diminutive Roylan stood up on shaky legs and stumbled around the obstacle to join them. Kirk regarded the man's bowlegged walk and wondered idly if he'd been squatting there a long time or if he always walked that way.

 **...**

 _Stardate 2259.33_

 _USS Enterprise – Medbay_

"Well, I can only confirm what we already knew."

Leonard McCoy surveyed his darkened sickbay. Doctors, what few of them remained on duty, attentively hovered over writhing patients and comatose officers. The most severe were test subjects for the cure, while the others were in stasis. All those who had non severe injuries were patched up and beamed directly back to quarters where they were put up with doctors. With damage around the ship and crazed officers still lurking in dark corridors around the ship, McCoy had plenty to worry about. Still, between inoculations and sedations, he kept the line with Scotty open, discussing the strange technology the reptilian invaders possessed.

"The Gorn weapons are designed to be killing machines, but somehow incorporate biological components."

 _"_ _But what about that ammunition they use? I am detecting more biological energy than actual laser pulses or energy."_

McCoy tapped a screen to his left, bringing up a diagnostic of the weapon's inside components. Several graphs, readings and random data fields came up in the form of highlighted notes. "Yeah. That 'biological component' as you call it? Look at this." He forwarded an image to Scott, who gaped at the screen.

 _"_ _Holy..."_ he breathed. _"The ammunition regenerates?!"_

McCoy nodded, still unable to believe the words coming from his mouth. "Like cells in any humanoid organism. I believe it can feed directly into the weapons from the user."

Scotty slouched backwards in his chair, placing one hand on his head. _"Well, I've heard of 'live ammunition', but this is just_ ridiculous _."_

"You said it." McCoy scrolled down. "As long as the user's metabolism produces new cells at _least_ as fast as they drain into the weapon, you've basically got unlimited firepower." He massaged his forehead with one hand. "Remind me to run every test in the book and a few _new_ ones on our Captain and the Vulcan when they return. Who knows what kind of long term side effects usage of those things can have on non-Gorn physiology?"

 _"_ _Love to, doctor, but I'm an engineer, not your personal assistant."_ Scotty frowned. _"Besides, something tells me you have a good memory when it comes to those sorts of things."_

McCoy snorted. "Some things are hard to forget, as much as I want to."

 _"_ _And look at this other little Gorn doohickey I've got readings on."_ The pitch of his voice indicated frustration. _"I mean, do you have_ any _idea what this is? I've been racking my brain. I mean, I could open the thing up, but what if it just ends up slicing my hand off? Probably just the thing the Gorn would do; set a bloody trap."_

"I'll have a look at these and message you back later. _You_ should focus on getting the ship running again. I need lights." He looked up and listened to a rumbling of distant explosive impacts on the hull. "And we _all_ need the engines working if we want to get back to Earth."

 **...**

 _Stardate 2259.33_

 _USS Enterprise – Main Engineering_

 _"_ _Chief engineers log, supplemental. I'm not sure whether we have Starfleet resourcefulness or Gorn malice to blame for these improvised weapons. While I understand that the poor sods think they have to defend themselves from the enemy – us – I just wish they wouldn't cannibalize the ship to do so. 'Oh, sure', you say, 'but what about redundancy? Isn't our ship built to withstand a few missing parts?' Maybe so, but you can only remove so many rebars before the ceiling caves in on our heads."_

Scotty regarded one of his engineering crewmen walking aimlessly around the darkened warp core deck. He had only spoken to the man just earlier, before his untimely capture and subsequent infection, to assign him to be part of the skeleton crew left on duty, protecting and locking down systems to guard against the Gorn invaders. It took no time at all for the giant tethers to puncture the shields, and little more for the first intruders to arrive, hungry and bloodthirsty.

Now Scott didn't even know where his best friends were. For all he knew, he could be the last person alive.

 _This is the end. I'm dead._ He began musing sarcastically. He was going to be stalking around, groaning and grunting like a raving maniac, smashing people on the head with one of the structural bars he would inevitably rip from his beloved ship's walls.

 _Damn bloody, stupid beasties!_ Why did they have to do this? _If you're going to kill me, do it. Don't make me take the ship apart piece by piece!_

 **...**

All the way to the engineering section, Kirk kept expecting the Roylan to make a comment, maybe a "thank you" or "good to be alive". Instead he got an earful of nothing. _So...not a talker..._

He could hardly wait to see Scotty's face when they showed up with his sidekick in tow, safe and sound. The very vocal and gregarious engineer was a study in contrasts with his silent partner. When the doors parted, the engineer beyond them turned and gaped with shock.

Kirk's mouth broadened. "We found Keenser, Mister Scott."

Through their many years of sojourn on what Scotty used to refer to as his own personal ice-cold purgatory, he'd grown quite fond of the little man. Often, despite his penchant for brief discourse, he'd been the only thing standing between him and tearing his hair out with frustration and loneliness. He smoothed his hair with one hand, chuckling to himself. _And that's a good thing, too, else I wouldna have a strand_ left _..._

Scott beamed with delight, his mind hardly believing what his eyes revealed to him. _"You're alive! Where have you been?"_ He shook his head, lifting it to gaze at the two rescuers. _"That sneaky little bastard!_ If there's _any_ problems with the warp core, he's your man." Back to the squat engineer. "Keenser, see if you can initialize the warp drives."

Keenser moved towards a large computer bank, typing on a smaller wall screen with steadier hands than he'd had a few minutes ago. Scott watched him with his arms crossed over his chest, proudly observing in the way fathers do sons, which was ironic as he was probably younger than the little guy. A low whir as something powered down, followed by a soft hiss.

 _Just one._ Scott expected three. His proud expression changed to worry as the readouts only confirmed what he suspected. "Only _one_ core will lower? We've _got_ to get in there and fix 'em."

"We will need to clear the area of Gorn to let Keenser complete his work." Spock said as he considered the several highlighted reptilian figures, then turned to his Captain.

"He's not going out 'til the coast is clear." Scott was insistent. No way he'd let Keenser get into danger again.

"I do not believe our hand phasers will be sufficient to fight off their numbers." Spock noted, giving Kirk a quizzical look.

"Yeah, Scotty. We're gonna need a little more fire power. You got anything?"

"Across the hall, down the stairs. You should find phaser rifles and stun grenades for each of you."

Kirk nodded. "Thanks. We'll be quick." In haste, he and Spock sprinted across the hall and down the metallic staircase winding around. Scooping up the rifle, Kirk felt relieved to have heavy duty Starfleet fire power back in his possession. Spock adjusted the clip and checked his ammo count. Equipped with the grenades, the two ran back up the stairs, charged their weapons and crept into the warp core room.

Darkness was bathed in blue light coming off the energy flowing through the long, grey, thick pipe carrying the ship's life blood. It did not thrum quietly. Being shut off, it was strangely quiet. Running from one side of the extremely wide horizontally cylindrical room to the other, it was intermittently held up by maintenance and monitoring stations along the three vertical cylindrical containment drums that were the warp cores themselves. Ducts and tubing still hummed and whirred in low tones around them. As quietly as they could, Kirk and Spock crept below the top of the grated ceiling along the grated floor, avoiding being seen by one of many patrolling Gorn warriors.

As it stood there gazing over the edge of the rail, it seemed temporarily mesmerized by the spinning walls. Just past where he stood, the floor ended, leading to a drop off. A fall to the floor below would be certain death. Turning back, the higher ranking Gorn paced toward the few stairs leading to the lowered area, stopping before continuing.

Kirk followed, rifle raised and primed to fire. Only Spock saw the other Gorn take notice as Kirk discharged vermillion bolts of energy into his target's back, killing it. Rushing to avenge their fallen comrade, other warriors got down on fours and behind white ridged crates strewn haphazardly across the grating. Repeater and phaser rifle fire flew in different directions, dropping the hiding Gorn one at a time.

To see the two skilled officers working rapidly in tandem, firing with deadly accuracy and at the same moment looking out for one another, you'd think the two officers were one person. One shadow. The Gorn may as well have been combating one. Back against a tall grey utility box, Kirk back-holstered his rifle and whipped out his hand phaser in one movement. Reaching an arm around the corner, he fired over and over at an approaching enforcer. It knocked down the Captain with a stun grenade and began marching forward, firing repeated spread projectiles like a shot gun. Spock pelted another warrior in blue bolts, successfully downing it as projectile clipped his arm.

"More of them have arrived!" Swivelling around, Spock and Kirk changed positions, deploying beam after beam of deadly energy at Gorn ducking behind rails, boxes and sometimes making daring rushes at them. Pillager, maurader and arc-driver fire did hit the Captain and First officer, but neither were dissuaded. Both glared ahead, both moved almost automatically like trained assassins.

Phaser rifle beams shot out. With haste and almost with anger, Kirk removed two grenades from his side, lobbing them one by one and blasting two separate warriors out of hiding and out of existence. Shots fired from Spock's hand phaser, parallel to Kirk's hand phaser blasts. The warrior growled and collapsed in a heap of muscle and burnt scales.

Breathing heavy and eyes wide, the men whipped around searching for more Gorn fighters. There were none left. After catching their breath and sharing looks of relief, Spock voiced what was now apparent.

"That appears to be the last of them."

 _You said it._ Kirk jogged toward one of the internal systems monitoring terminal on the outside of one of the warp cores. Time was short, they had to hurry. "Scotty, tell Keenser we're clear." He watched the door impatiently, waiting for it to open; his foot tapped idly on the ground. _Well? We're waiting..._

Finally, after what seemed like hours, the doors swished open and a little figure appeared at the top of the room. Expecting him to hurry down towards them to make up for lost time, he watched, dumbfounded, as the officer toddled toward them.

Kirk snapped. "C'mon, Keenser! We don't have _all_ day!"

Scotty was first to understand the Captain's frustration, but first to defend Keenser. _"Uh...Captain? He may be a wee little bugger but there's no need to be patronizing."_

Keenser's short stature didn't allow him to walk fast. Kirk knew that."Sorry."The squat officer began typing in a sequence of numbers, first unlocking the controls and then inputting commands to check on the status of the cores. Neither Spock nor Kirk were engineers, but an security guard, even a civilian could tell that when the several indicators began blinking red, it meant something was wrong. One by one, more readings turned the same threatening colour.

"Scotty," Kirk said, eyes watching the readouts, "things ain't looking so good down here."

Reading both Keenser's message and the same readouts, Scotty hastily absorbed the information. _"He thinks there's something wrong with the upper warp core. He needs you to investigate."_

"Can do." Gathering grenades from downed Gorn, Kirk and Spock ran across the room, up two separate short sets of stairs. Because power was still not restored to most of them ship, many doors would not open automatically. These ones had to be pried apart. Kirk bit down and pushed as hard as he could, wedging himself between the doors and pushing. Spock pulled on away, and then stepped under the Captain's arms. As Kirk came through beside him, the doors slammed again.

At the top of the ladder around the corner, Kirk slid open the hatch in the floor and crawled up, followed immediately by Spock. Patrolling around the upper warp core room, the Gorn that guarded it showed no sign of nervousness or extra awareness for intruders. They had no idea what had just happened to their fellow officers just below them.

"They have yet to notice us." Spock declared quietly and confidently.

Kirk momentarily considered this. "We can go hot or cold here."

"Lead the way." Spock's tone was slightly contemptuous. Sure his Captain would choose to go in guns blazing, Spock was prepared to do just that. He would not mind in the least to risk a little to have another battle with the Gorn. Kirk thought the Vulcan may actually enjoy it.

Just behind a utility box, both men held up as a warrior passed by, stopping before misplaced supply boxes. Though normally Kirk might be annoyed by the unusually sloppy way supplies and crates were left around the ship, he understood why. Before this entire catastrophe with Gorn had started, the _Enterprise_ 's requisitions order had been received, and the crew was still moving supplies, materials, and tools when they had been told to drop everything and prepare to fight. Kirk wouldn't complain, either. The supplies were great to hide behind. Still, once Scotty found out he'd be plenty angry that his necessary parts were being shot at.

An unconscious engineer lay helpless on the floor. Kirk tagged the still breathing man and prepped him for beam out.

Hacking a mine laid on the floor, Kirk triggered it to go and kill the warrior patrolling near the door. At Kirk's direction though not needing it, Spock altered a second mine remotely to go off at the detection of Gorn vitals.

Timing their movements was imperative as they snuck below cover of more rectangular containers and round barrels. The most advantageous spot in the room was a small observation deck above that gave a view of the entire section. Glass panels on both sides allowed Mr. Scott to supervise his team without having to make a full circuit of the area. _Not a bad crow's nest for a fight, either._

The problem was _getting there_. Two options presented themselves. The first was a flight of stairs that lead directly to the deck, no diversions. Unfortunately, it also led directly past a gun turret _and_ the Gorn he was trying to avoid in the first place. _Run the gamut? No thanks._ The second, and in Kirk's mind, superior choice was more roundabout, involving a climb up a stack of crates and pulling himself through a broken railing onto the upper level. It still required he pass the turret on his way up, but a simple stun ought to take care of that. _At least they don't chase. Or bite..._

With a lift of his chin, he signalled Spock wordlessly. The Vulcan nodded, understanding filling his eyes. _Okay, either I'm a really good communicator, or he just read my mind from a few feet away. Yeah...definitely the latter._ On a silent "three", they moved. Kirk stunned the turret, then broke for the boxes. Two quick steps up, he leapt for the upper level, pulling himself up with a heave. While Spock pulled _himself_ up, Kirk kept stunning the turret to keep it from reactivating and targeting the Vulcan. In moments they had managed to achieve their target location while avoiding detection.

Kirk glanced out at the view below. "Perfect. We're invisible up here." He pointed two fingers at his eyes and then out at the Gorn below. _"We're watching you."_

"Taunting an enemy combatant, whether or not they can hear you, is most-"

"-illogical. Got it." Kirk peered through the glass, watching the three enemy combatants below. Around the other side of the corridor at the top of the stairs, Kirk picked off the enforcer down below with a single lethal shot. He raised his weapon towards the next target, glancing back to see Spock adjusting his weapon.

"Yeah, that's probably a good idea. Doing that here, I mean." He turned back to the catwalk across the room and steadied his gun, pumping the trigger. Two quick shots and the Gorn dropped like a rock against the railing it was passing by.

Kirk zeroed in on his last target against a core temperature monitor, blowing it away with deadly accuracy. Each of his shots was delivered without alerting the others. Of course the last one was, because there weren't any others.

Scott, who was watching the whole thing on readouts intently, broke in as soon as Kirk lowered his weapon. _"Captain, here's the problem. Those Gorn have been messing with the system and now there's too much pressure in the core. Before we can lower it, we_ have _to release the pressure. You'll need to work together."_ He explained carefully to insure there was no confusion. _"One of you needs to release the pressure at the failsafe, and the other needs to lower the core at the control console. If you don't time it right the pressure will build back up."_

Kirk smiled firmly. "Simple enough. Spock, I'll take the failsafe down there, you go across to the controls. Be careful though." He stared hard at his friend. "That turret can't be destroyed. Getting in its way, even on a high ledge is like being in a firing squad."

Spock stared thoughtfully. "There is another advanced gun turret across the room, and undoubtedly several Gorn will be here momentarily. From the moment we touched down on New Vulcan, I along with you, have been placed in danger." He paused, allowing Kirk to think. "I will not be anything _but_ careful."

Kirk offered his first a look of sympathy. "I know...have you made any contact with-"

"Nyo – Lieutenant Uhura has not responded." Pivoting on a heel, he set off for the controls, clearly troubled. Kirk watched a moment longer before creeping halfway down the staircase and remotely shutting off the failsafe, opening the valves and releasing white steam.

Numbers rapidly decreased on Scotty's readout as the core pressure dropped below safe levels. _"The pressure's released. Quickly, lower the core!"_ he ordered.

Spock did so. Slowly with a groan, the wide pillar of blue-white lowered. "We will need to repeat the same procedure with the remainder of the warp cores."

 _"_ _Only one more where you are. Once you allow me into the system, I can work on the rest myself."_ With a new round of upgrades being installed in all Starfleet ships, Scott couldn't wait for the day they'd get the conventional multi-core layout refitted and replaced by the new single core design. After the havoc the Gorn wreaked on the _Enterprise_ so far, they'd need to go into dry dock for weeks getting repairs.

 _BANG!_

A conduit running alongside the cores ruptured. Almost instantly blaring sirens made it known that danger was imminent. Scotty gritted his teeth and looked at the extent of the damage. A cloud of coloured light trailed from the system diagram; a meter to the left blinked rapidly. The import of what was happening hit him like a stone. He slapped the console.

 _"_ _Crap! Radiation leak. One of you needs to seal the containment drum. I've marked it on your tricorders."_ By his calculations, the radiation would start to affect them in a matter of minutes.

Kirk broke into a run, looking down just as the icon appeared on the small tricorder screen. "Just curious; what happens if we _don't_?"

 _What do you think? "Oh, nothing serious,"_ he muttered, rolling his eyes, _"just_ severe radiation poisoning! _"_

 _Right_. _No thanks._.. Kirk and Spock both hurried to the sight of the blast, arriving just above it. Both tried to see the sealant panel through the cracks between steps to the next console, but were halted in their efforts by several Gorn beaming in all over the place. Kirk may have wished for the radiation to finish them off, but based on their rugged physiology, the Gorn would last longer than him. He did not want to experience the long term effects of radiation.

 _"_ _Radiation levels rising. Seal that containment drum!"_ Scott repeated, more desperate and urgent than angry.

While Spock tried to focus, but could already feel what he believe to be the beginning of the effects. His muscles seemed to be weaker, and his mind did not quite operate at full. Kirk looked dazed, summoning his wits and strength to fire at and kill the enforcer tampering with the console just ahead. Acting on his chance to get closer, Spock shut the control panel below remotely. The greenish liquid-like gas stopped, and the alarms cut off abruptly. Radiation levels immediately began dissipating, much to Kirk and Spock's great relief.

No one, however, was happier than the Scott watching from afar on his screen. _"Radiation levels dropping. You did it."_ He announced proudly. _"Now, lower that other core. Remember, you've got to work together to release the core."_

Kirk and Spock barely listened. Gorn warriors and enforcers lurked around everywhere. There were at least a dozen. With a look of determination and possibly strain, the two raised their rifles with sore arms and pumped crimson beams into two different Gorn. In under two minutes, leaning over rails, aiming under platforms and past the precious cores themselves, Kirk and Spock dispatched them one after another, carefully drawing pillager and arc driver fire away from any explosive or important components around them.

"Spock, heads up! More coming!" Kirk shouted, changing places with his First officer and railing on the jagged-teethed lizard shooting projectiles from down below. The Vulcan commander felt bright laser fire clip his body. Strength depleted and returned. Shrinking down and waiting out the inevitable depletion of ammunition, he thrust out his phaser rifle with both hands and squeezed the trigger.

One enforcer succumbed to Kirk's point blank blasts, another coming up stairs across the room only got off a few shots before screeching and crumpling in pain, dying from Spock's lethal barrage.

Spock caught his breath. "All threats eliminated. Now we must neutralize the gun turrets."

"Yeah, Spock. You hack that one over there, I'll get this one." His finger indicated directions, and the Vulcan complied. Almost simultaneously, the turrets responded to new commands, crouching once the internal scanners detected all possible threats in the room were now eliminated.

"Scotty, once we leave this room, seal it off. If any infected crewmen and -women get in here, they won't stand a chance. There are a few unconscious ones here. Beam them directly to sickbay."

 _"_ _Aye, Captain. This ship is crawling with those bloody beasties! Unless you hide in the Jefferies tubes, you'll run into them sure enough."_

Back at the other failsafe, Spock released the pressure, nodding to Kirk overhead. Responding, he initiated the command sequence.

Scott was urgent. _"Lower the core now!"_ Kirk did as he requested, and the core lowered with a hiss.

"That's the last one."

 _"_ _Okay, get back down here! Keenser's in trouble, sir."_ Who knew what the Gorn were capable of? He doubted they'd find the wee man any trouble at all. _More like a puppy treat._ He shivered.

"On it, Scotty!" Kirk said sharply, running down the stairs and past a hacked turret. With no time to disable the two mines just ahead, he simply shot them out with his hand phaser from a safe distance.

Scott's voice mellowed, grateful and yet pleading with Kirk. _"Captain, I'd sure appreciate if you could keep the little bugger safe. I know he's a pain in the arse, but –"_

"–we _will_ do our best, Mister Scott." Spock interrupted, upset by the insinuation that they'd do anything less than keep a fellow crewman out of danger.

 **...**

 _Stardate 2259.33_

 _USS Enterprise – Sulu's Quarters_

Sulu took a brief break from staring at the wall screen to look around the room. His bed was still slightly mussed as he'd left it that morning; a plate of toast crumbs lay on top of a small crate next to an empty coffee cup. If he turned on the PADD by his bedside, it'd probably still be on page 189 of the novel he'd started reading two days ago. He smiled at the comfort his surroundings brought him.

 _Just looking around here, you'd never guess the_ Enterprise _was under attack._ Unfortunately, he hadn't been beamed right into his room. On his way to the officer's quarters, he had encountered a mix of both rational healthy security guards and infected crazed ones. Once at the access door to the quarter's area he had to convince the man on the other side he wasn't carrying a rod or in any way sick with the Gorn virus. Communications flew from quarter to quarter, each officer checking in on the others to make sure all are okay. Unlike most people, Sulu didn't have anyone sharing his room with him.

He returned his eyes to the simulations he was running. According to scans, it seemed as though the tethers that immobilized the starship were similar to tractor beam technology, but with one small difference; a continuous biologically-based energy feed that allowed it to maintain a consistent hold on the hull of the ship, rather than cycling through settings to conserve power. He'd been skimming the notes from the joint engineering-medical analysis of the Gorn's weapons, and it seemed as though this was a feature common to both systems. _So maybe we can exploit that..._

He'd operated on that principle, testing various frequencies of energy to break or disable the beams. Even if they could work, the ship itself wasn't producing enough power to produce a sustained anti-frequency to burst the tethers apart.

 _"_ _Hikaru!"_ The voice on his comm broke into his mind, pulling his attention away from the all important simulations to his belt. Removing his communicator, he clicked it on.

"Pavel? Where are you?"

 _"_ _Observation lounge."_ Chekov replied, warily. _"I've got several injured people down here. They're unconscious, but okay...for now."_

"Why are you calling me instead of sickbay?" Sulu asked curiously.

Taking a breath and looking over his shoulder, the Russian navigator and tactical officer continued. _"I have called sickbay, but they don't have transporters working here for some reason I can't determine, and they can't get people down here. Doctor McCoy cannot risk any more of his staff in the halls."_ He swallowed. _"I'm in the observation lounge because I couldn't get back to my quarters! I was cut off, so I went to the least likely place the Gorn would go. I don't think they care about stargazing much."_ Sighing, he added, _"How did you get back? What happened to the Keptin and Mister Spock?"_

"We had a wild ride, but we're all okay and back onboard. Couldn't get the device or T'Mar back yet, though." Sulu tightened his hands and stretched his arms upward. "We're working on getting the ship back first."

By what he heard, Sulu could tell that Chekov was extremely relieved at the news. The Russian's response was just as the helmsman thought it would be.

 _"_ _Great! You're all safe...I am sorry about the device, but I have faith the Keptin and Spock have a plan. As for taking the ship back, I can help too."_

As Sulu was about to respond to that remark, he heard a thump in the hall. He would have answered again if it were not for the yell that followed. Sensing trouble, he took immediate action.

"Call you later, Chekov!" Shutting the comm before the man on the other end could remark, Sulu felt for a phaser. He didn't have it, but didn't have time to search for it either. The panic in the darkened corridor outside escalated. Without thinking, the helmsman unlocked his door that he'd purposely shut down to keep out intruders, and grabbed the one thing he did have; his sword. Not the flimsy one he used for fencing, but a solid ceremonial one he had used only as decoration on his wall. Not anymore.

He started out into the hall.

Instantly, a large Gorn warrior clad in usual armour but unusually without a weapon followed a staggering group of healthy officers. _There!_ One of them had wrestled the pillager from the reptile's hands, and had suffered severe abdominal injuries in the process. He had to distract the creature.

 _"_ _En garde!"Why did I say that?"Yah!"_ He jerked the sword forward, possibly startling the confused creature. It cocked its head to the side, studying the sword.

Sulu assumed a fighting stance, waving his weapon tauntingly at the creature. The Gorn was perfectly happy to be given an excuse to grab a metallic rod from the wall, ripping it out effortlessly as the other crewmen watched in horror. It, too held the bar clutched tightly in a hand, ready to make quick work of Sulu. As the warrior attempted to smashhis opponent with a downward thrust of the bar, the agile helmsman ducked, rolled and popped to his feet behind the attacker. The creature was again surprised, but continued to attempt to end the fight quickly, each thrust made with the intent to kill. Sulu's sword seemed to block every attack, and break through every defence the Gorn offered.

Fists and feet battered the weakened Gorn as the rod and the gun were now out of reach. Without an armament to use, it considered finishing off the defenceless humans behind it. After spinning to avoid a meaty scaly fist, Sulu whirled and delivered a jab into the creature's chest.

Gasps escaped the frightened ensigns as the sharp point of the sword ripped out the other side of the scaly hide, and then again though the back of its skull. Blood sprayed and the Gorn fell with a loud thud. Observing his dead opponent, Sulu offered a hand to the others. "You okay?"

"Merrick's hurt bad. We need to get him inside now!" A worried black haired woman cried, clutching the injured man next to her. He protested back through a grimace.

"It's a _graze_ , okay? Ouch, ahhh!" He writhed, clutching his side.

Sulu waved them inside. "Come on, my quarters are free!" They lifted the injured officer and carefully slipped inside the helmsman's room. While the others treated the wounded individual, Sulu returned to his work reluctantly after chucking the bloody weapon on his bed. His phaser still lay where he'd left it. _I could've used that earlier..._ The sound of a hypo spray was followed by the groan and slowing breathing of the frantic man.

Getting back to running simulations was difficult, but to avoid more encounters like that with the Gorn, it was worth it. His mind refocused, not noticing the murmur of chatter behind him or when the personnel in his room drifted in and out of exhaustion. Another look at his phaser, and an idea occurred to him. His hands began to move faster on the instruments.

 **...**

 _Stardate 2259.33_

 _USS Enterprise – Main Engineering_

Proceeding to pry open the door leading to the hall open, Spock assisted, straining to fight the locked door's strength. As fast as they could, he and Kirk got between the doors, unlocked the hatch and climbed the ladder downward into a small corridor just outside the lower warp core room. Doors parted, allowing the two men inside.

 _"_ _Keep them away from Keenser."_ Scotty gripped the armrests of his chair tightly. _They can only focus on sae many things at a time. It'd be dead easy to lose track of-_ He refused to finish the thought. _They are capable. They can do this. Let them do this._

 _Still..."Hold tight, Keenser!"_

Ignoring the traffic on the comms, Kirk quickly knocked out two infected officers stalking around across the rooms. Though too far to hear, he hoped the clattering of the metal rods they carried didn't alert the Gorn. Heading directly toward the console where Keenser needed to work with would have the same undesired effect. He decided to go with Spock's recommendation: use the Jefferies tubes just a few feet down. While at first the crawl was not too bad, Kirk quickly became tired of the dark cramped portal. Making the first left turn he could get to, he emerged in a recessed area of the floor, climbing up and behind a box.

A crewman hunched over, his head in his hands. Kirk watched as he straightened up and raised his phaser rifle level with Kirk's chest. A quick knockout stun shot sent him to the floor, unconscious. _Sorry._

Spock took a second to check his comm. What he saw on the screen caused him to hesitate and let off some of the tension he felt. Kirk took notice but said nothing.

A blast ahead only made things worse. Two enforcers entered the blown open doors. Now it was four against two. While Spock began searching for the best way to attack, Kirk smirked at the prospect of it actually being a _fair_ fight. Some phaser fire and a couple of grenades later, four reptilian bodies lay on the ground.

"All clear! Hurry up, Keenser." Kirk shouted. Appearing from behind two doors, Keenser toddled up toward his waiting commanding officers. Once in front of the glowing screen, he raised his stubby white hands as if preparing to play the piano and got to work initializing the warp core.

 _"_ _Good work. Keenser really appreciates your help."_ Scott said, wiping his forehead with the back of his hand. _And he's not the only one. The less time we're inoperative, the better._

"It's okay, officer." Kirk placed a hand on the squat man's shoulders.

"Thank you." He answered, still typing in the commands. In seconds, he finished inputting relevant information and codes, commencing internalprocesses and sequences. After completing all he could do, he spun around and directed his attention on the core. An ascending noise indicated just what all four wanted to hear.

With delight, Scotty watched the screen in front of him as the long-dead warp engines came to life, kicking the main ship's power into action. Around all the engineering decks, displays, lights and instruments beeped and flashed on.

 _"_ _We did it! The warp core is back online!"_

Kirk and Spock shared satisfied looks. Kirk grinned proudly down at Keenser. "Nicely done!" He nudged the small Roylan's shoulder.

Spock was pleased at the development, but knew there was still a lot to do. "The infected now appear to be our most immediate problem."

Kirk agreed, switching comm channels. "How's it going, Bones?" As the doctor prepared a response, Keenser walked off, slightly more confident than before.

 _"_ _I'm making some progress but it would be nice to get a little help up here!"_ McCoy's voice was an odd mixture of tension and relief. Background chatter was interrupted every now and then by the odd pinging sound coming from a bio-monitor.

Kirk didn't want to keep the doctor waiting any longer than he already had. "We're on our way. Spock, let's get to medbay."

As they exited engineering, Kirk and Spock stepped though the busted doorway blown open by the Gorn and paced toward the turbo lift. Their progress was interrupted by another communication. A voice Kirk hadn't heard in a while.

 _"_ _Captain, I think I have an idea that can help here."_

"Let's hear it, Sulu." Any idea the helmsman had to offer was welcome at the moment.

 _"_ _With the warp core back online,"_ he began, looking over the power influx now coursing through the ship, _"I believe I can destroy those tethers that are holding the_ Enterprise _."_

If Kirk, Spock and Scott were intrigued before, now they were positively enthusiastic. Kirk maintained his professionalism none the less.

"We're all ears, Mister Sulu." Realizing the way he worded his phrase, he eyed his First officer. "No offence."

Spock's expression stayed the same. "None taken, Captain."

Sulu proceeded in his explanation. _"If I could pulse the shields –"_

 _"–_ _you could disrupt the tethers! He might be onto something, Captain."_ Scott clearly approved of the helmsman's suggestion. He sounded downright jubilant at the prospect of getting his ship back. Well, Kirk's ship back.

Kirk, feeling more and more in control, answered back. "Get on it, Sulu, but wait for my order. We have to get control of the ship first." Kirk strode into the turbo lift ahead of Spock, commanding it to take them to medbay. Once moving, Spock began his inquiry.

"Mister Sulu, how exactly does the shield pulse disrupt the Gorn tethers?"

 _"_ _I was inspired by my phaser, actually. All shields have their own shield resonance, and can be penetrated if you know what frequencies to calibrate for. In this case, the Gorn do. They're broadcasting a constant stream of high frequency bio-energy that holds the ship where we are now. The downside of this system is that the biological components are susceptible to the same stressors a body can be. If I can produce a violent burst of shielding energy with the right resonance setting, the Gorn beams will reflect back into itself, and into the ships producing them. That sudden surge should blow the ships up, and destroy the tethers completely. I owe you and the doctor. Your research helped."_

"Then you will need to thank Mister Scott as well. I commend your brilliant strategy, Lieutenant."

 _"_ _Thank you, sir. I've got to prime the shields now. Sulu out."_

Kirk stewed quietly in the back of the turbolift. He leaned on the wall with a hand, avoid Spock's probing glare. Completely uncharacteristic of the Vulcan, he stopped the lift with the press of a button. He considered his words before speaking.

"Captain, you are troubled. I know you repeatedly try to deflect my attempts to ascertain the nature of your distress, but –"

Kirk frowned and pressed the button resuming the lift. Spock stopped it again. By the way Kirk balled his fists at his sides, it was evident the Captain had lost his patience.

"Come on, Spock. We've gotta get to sickbay. No time to rest."

After a short deliberation, Spock resumed the lift. "Then we shall continue our discussion now. Sir, if we are to successfully carry out this mission, I need to be sure that you are not emotionally compromised."

Kirk shot his first officer a sideways glance. _"Really?!"_ He struggled to find words, breathing hard. "I thought you'd have forgiven that by now. Seriously, now is _not_ the time."

"I am not referring to past incidents, Captain. I am referring to _now_ , in this moment."

A glare. "Are you sure _you_ aren't compromised? Your people just got attacked – _again_! The colony that they worked so hard on is wrecked! Your mentor was _killed_."

"The damage to the colony and the death toll were both tragic but relatively minor. I am trying to understand why _you_ are upset. I am trying to provide assistance; it is my job as first officer to guide and support you in any way possible."

Kirk shook his head. "I can't – we can't do this right now. Bones needs help, and we need to take back our ship. That's our top priority."

Spock cut in front of him. "Sir, if you are feeling overwhelmed by the day's events, then that is a completely normal psychological response. There is no need to be ashamed or embarrassed."

Kirk finally looked toward him and away from the wall. "It's not that!" He breathed hard. Spock searched the Captain's stare. " _Every time_ we turn around, we're losing people. The Vulcans, the people on the Starbase, and now even our own crew! They're all dying and I can't stop it no matter what I do." Gazing to the side, he searched for the right words."I can't stop thinking about the death and destruction. I keep missing, keep failing them when I need to save them. If we take even one minute to look away, I'm going to lose more of them. My crew counts on me; Pike is counting on me. _Everyone_ is expecting me to pull this off, and I just don't know if _anybody_ can."

Spock's face became confused at confronting such strong emotion. "You could not prevent all those deaths. We have managed to save more people than we know right now, on New Vulcan, Frontier Starbase and the _Enterprise_. As a human being with limits as _all_ humans have, you are capable of experiencing emotional distress and guilt for the losses and for the traumatic images you have been forced to witness in the past hours." The Vulcan swallowed, tilting his head to the side. "I admit that I share the same feelings about this. You must remember we are working _together_ with our fellow officers to defeat the Gorn because it is impossible to do so alone. Do not operate under the impression that it is all on _you_." He stood there silently, allowing his words to sink in.

Kirk closed his eyes tightly. "I know, I know...it's just trying to convince _others_ of that. They all expect me to be their hero...and I _want_ to. But I don't know if I can put everything I've seen aside."

"There will be time to process what we are experiencing later. I will help you in any way I can." Spock met his gaze. "For now, we must keep our eyes on our immediate goals. There is no one I would rather have on my side in the completion of them."

Kirk rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah...I guess I have no choice." He relaxed slightly. "You know, you're wasted on just bridge duties alone. You should have been a psychologist."

Spock's eyebrows lifted. "It is difficult enough to read _you_ on occasion; I should not imagine what it would be like to analyze behavioural patterns in multiple subjects."

"Really..." The captain's face scrunched up. "Am I _that_ aggravating?"

Spock pursed his lips in thought. Maybe it was to suppress the corners of his mouth from turning up."No more so than you find me, sir."

Kirk was definitely suppressing a wide smile. "You _are_ getting to know me."In that moment as the turbo lift halted, Kirk did not find his First officer annoying at all.

Both Human and Vulcan, though badly shaken, realized that their chances of failure had just decreased in that moment. It was not just Spock's intelligence and cunning or Kirk's boldness, resourcefulness and overwhelming confidence in his success that drove them to their goal. It was a friendship, a trust between them that only solidified determination and desperation to stop the Gorn from taking the Helios device.

And with it, the fate of innumerable worlds. Including Earth.

 **...**

 _Stardate 2259.33_

 _USS Enterprise – Sickbay_

Medbay was the last place Kirk and Spock expected to see Gorn. But as soon as they got to the turbolift access corridor leading there, two security officers ran to the cover of a well placed box blocking a hall, rifles pointing ahead from eye level. Rushing to assist, Kirk and Spock quickly acquired both enemy targets down the hallway. Both commenced firing off several rounds into their fleshy hides.

"Nice work, sir," one of the officers said, saluting Kirk. "Good to have you back."

"Good to _be_ back." Kirk saluted back. "Wasn't all us. You got some shots off."

As he left, Spock called back to the officers. "Barricade the doors more thoroughly. Take all necessary precautions, and make all attempts to avoid hostile contact."

Escaping their subordinates' confirmations, Kirk scanned the room flooded in red light for his unseen doctor. It took only a moment to see the worried, sweating man going from patient to patient. He seemed focused on one in particular who writhed in pain, screaming and moaning. Glowing liquid oozed from his skin. With an exhale, the doctor shook slightly as he observed the mass of infected and suffering people around him, and thought of the others he couldn't reach, couldn't help.

"Someone sedate that man!" He said exasperatedly, glancing in no particular direction. When his gaze met a supportive expression from his Captain and First officer, he lightened up. "Captain, Spock, over here."

Meeting in a noticeably dark spot of the floor's carpet, McCoy was comforted and mildly frustrated at their presence. "It's about time you guys got here."

Kirk holstered his sidearm and stared firmly back. "What's that status?"

McCoy already knew how bad it was. "I've got injured everywhere. We've been able to barricade ourselves in here but those little bastards are persistent. I don't know how long we've got."

Spock's tone was edged with urgency but composed. "And the antidote?"

"I can synthesize an airborne vaccine but I need the lights back on. I can't see anything and I don't have enough power to replicate enough vaccine for the whole ship."

"We can boost the power to medbay in the control room." He eyed McCoy. "Do not worry, Doctor. You will not be in the dark for very much longer."

The doctor flinched, squinting his eyes, hands on his hips. "Is that some kind of joke?"

Spock stared back, his Vulcan features displaying confusion. "Not that I am aware of."

Considering Spock a moment longer, McCoy paced back toward two scrambling nurses pouring over readouts. "Ensign, get me that sample from patient 42."

Waving sharply at the guard on duty, the large quarantine doors opened vertically. Spock extended his arms rigidly in front of his body, phaser clasped tightly, pressing onward. Kirk mirrored his actions, checking every doorway and open room. While the small medical room up the hall was empty, Kirk moved in past the gurney, scanning tools and readout screens to several X-ray images on the wall. Skulls, vertebrae, and several other joints were on the screen. Yellow areas between the bones and in the spinal cord and cranium were highlighted.

"Spock, look at this." Kirk crossed his arms. "I can't let this virus go on another moment. We've gotta get that cure flowing through the ship."

The Vulcan ignored the slight urge to analyze them further, or stack the scattered bottles on the floor. He followed behind his Captain instead, out into the hall, and down to the lower deck. With the turbolift below on fire, there was only one way to go.

In the power control room, hiding was easy. There, like everywhere else, standard boxes, supply containers and cylinders were still on the floor in random areas where the crew had left them. Two members of that crew wandered on the upper floor. In the darkness of the room, it was almost impossible to tell that they weren't carrying out their usual patrols. Only a tricorder scan revealed the full extent of their illness; body temperature and neurological activity was erratic. Every now and then, one would let out a plaintive wail, entreating the newcomers not to harm them or blame them for their actions.

As one got too close to a lurking Kirk, the Captain swiftly moved in and choked him, squeezing tightly from behind until his struggling red-shirt sunk into unconsciousness. Before the other ill man could notice his fellow crewman was downed, Kirk had moved back into cover. Cautiously, the vigilant man closed in on the still form on the floor.

 _"_ _Oh no, something's there."_ With each step the infected man's face looked worse in the vermillion emergency lights. _"It knows! God, it knows!"_ The voice was tight with terror and deep set pain.

The very thought of his crew going through such suffering made Kirk feel even worse. When the virus's influence deep set in the still standing man, he rapidly lost interest in his friend and stalked away. Like the Gorn, others that could no longer fight were deemed irrelevant. Spock snuck close enough, reaching over the shoulder of the man and pinching his nerve that shut off his consciousness.

At the sound of a well placed sound decoy, the lone Gorn warrior stalking through the darkness on the lower floor crept slowly toward the spiralled staircase to investigate. The two mines placed at the top of the stairs were originally supposed to detonate when unsuspecting healthy officers or anyone not Gorn passed by. Once hacked by Kirk, they made quick work of the warrior.

From cover, Spock and Kirk now focused down through one of the two holes in the floor. Surrounded by railings and glass paneling, they afforded a view of the floor below, and allowed a support beam doubling as a utility carrier to reach the lower level. In this case, it also enabled the Captain and First officer to have perfect view of the two remaining red shirts making their way to a ladder, curious as to why two blasts just occurred overhead. Before either could grasp a rung, high powered stun shots took them down.

Detonating the last two mines at the foot of the stairs, the room became clear of any threats. If they didn't get the cure to the ship soon, inevitably they would run into some kind ambush or threat neither of them could avoid nor dismantle. Up some stairs on a grated floor in the lower level's back room, Kirk found the main power control console and searched the thoroughly red readouts. While electric controls and manual shut off levers and switches functioned normally, the entirety of the power was directed to emergency lights, life support and gravity. While all of these were essential, they needed main lights and power to medbay's replicators. Then Scott and Sulu could worry about diverting power to forward shields, weapons and most importantly manoeuvring thrusters.

"Any ideas, Spock?"

"We need to redirect power using these access points," He indicated two functional monitoring panels located in two rather empty rooms on either level of the control center they currently occupied. "Our tricorders will help us locate them."

"On it." Kirk snapped back confidently. For once they did not have to insert Captain and First officer access codes, or hack into ever increasingly difficult Gorn encryption. This was as easy as flipping a switch.

Just as he exited the main console room, McCoy's pressing voice came over the comms, clear as day. _"I can't work without power, Jim. How's it going down there?"_

And _he_ couldn't concentrate if his doctor was constantly contacting him. Kirk's teeth grated together. "You're gonna have to be a little patient."

McCoy shook his head, faltering for only a second. He leaned on his chair, clutching his comm tighter. _"Oh sure, when you want something done, it's all 'Now, now, now', but when I want –"_

"–Doctor McCoy, I assure you the lecture is not helping."

Kirk felt sympathetic for the poor doctor. He knew that his request must have sounded hypocritical coming from him, of all people. Down in the darkened sickbay, battling both the Gorn and the clock simultaneously, a harriedMcCoy hadworked tirelessly to find a cure, and now worked to replicate more. Knowing any expression of pity wouldn't placate him, Kirk offered the only thing he could; reinforcement in lieu of reinforcements. "Sit tight, Bones."

Kirk handled the first panel with ease, diverting power flow. In medbay, instrumentation and displays flickered to life or brightened; overhead lighting panels blinked several times before flooding the room with white light. McCoy sank back into his chair, one arm hanging down at his side, hand gripping a cylindrical scanner. _"Let there be light."_

"One moment..." Kirk muttered. He was not looking at the power flow under the floor. Now he was focused on the two security guards who entered the room on the upper level. By the way they breathed and moaned loudly enough to be heard from anywhere, it was obvious they were compromised by the infection as so many others were. Moving carefully up the stairs to avoid making any noises that'd alert them, Kirk and Spock assumed position behind separate boxes. Two accurately placed blue beams of energy were sufficient to knock out the figures a distance away clad in red shirts. Spock was first to move into a room on the right, returning moments later as the regular lighting came on and power returned with a loud rising whir.

Acknowledging two more guards emerging from a room beneath their feet, he met the Captain's waiting stare. "We have redirected enough power to the system. Now we just need to send it to medbay from the control room."

"Good, let's keep quiet."Kirk responded, pointing a finger down. On their descent down the stairs, he addressed the doctor on the comm. "Bones, we've almost got it."

 _"_ _Yeah, I just noticed the difference. Hurry up on it, and watch for crazies. They're everywhere."_

Curious from hearing a sound out of nowhere, one disturbed lieutenant crept forward toward a seemingly harmless area of floor. A blast from a phaser relieved him of his consciousness. Kirk moved swiftly in front of Spock and toward the room around the corner, hand phaser ready. Unholstering a close proximity stun grenade, he watched intently as the doors detected him and slid open. Before the person inside could react, the blast sent him reeling back. A fist from the man he would normally take orders from sent him to the floor.

In just minutes, Captain and First officer were in the control room, inputting access codes and subsequently using their access to divert power back to the main medical center.

A voice that had gone silent for a while reappeared. _"Captain?"_

"Scotty, we're kinda busy right now. Is it important?" Kirk asked, already wary by the engineer's tone.

Nothing yet. Spock interjected. "Mister Scott?"

 _"_ _Yeah, I just remembered something I've been meaning to tell you. Those Gorn down on the surface, the ones with axes? You remember those?"_

Kirk sighed, still working quickly. "I'll never forget 'em. What about the guardians?"

Scott huffed. _"Well, what do you know, I called them that too."_ In a second, his voice became serious, almost lowered to a whisper. _"This beastie's thick skin seems ideal for close combat. You kinna cut this guy with a sword, almost. It's getting creepier as I go along. Each Gorn seems to be ideal for their set jobs. As if each type, each species was designed to serve a particular role in Gorn hierarchy. A kind of direct evolution, as it were."_

Kirk could only squint with confusion. Spock's left eyebrow rose. Another ascending whirring noise signified energy currents changing and systems coming back online for the first time in hours. Time delay did not at all affect reaction speed.

Kirk addressed his comm at the foot of the main power room's stairs beside Spock. "Bones, did it work?"

 _"_ _Well, I didn't think you guys had a chance in hell,"_ McCoy said with an uncommonly good mood, looking up at the lights and nodding, _"but yeah, I think you got it."_ He reached over and studied the bio scans of two patients and their positive responses to the cure.

The captain's boots clunked down the grated floor. "I want that antidote dispersed ASAP."

 _"_ _Doing my best."_

Another voice, considerably higher with fear and confusion crackled through the Captain's comm. _"Keptin! We're under attack! We need help in...I can't hold them...much longer!"_

With his attention caught between two warriors and the urgent voice of his navigator, Kirk made the easy choice. "Bones, get me a location." With force, he and Spock unleashed the full extent of their hand phasers' power on the two. Cover did not provide any protection for the now dead Gorn.

McCoy located several distressed figures on the floor. _"They're in the observation lounge."_

Spock did everything he could, speaking in a firm voice usually reserved for command. "Mister Chekov, if you can hear us, we are on our way to your location."

Behind the Russian's rushed voice, growling, screaming and gun fire echoed of the walls. _"They've breached the hull. We have injured!"_

Up the spiralled stairs, Kirk took no time eliminating an enforcer firing on them. Charging their weapons quickly, they raced out into the hall, up the ladder and onto the upper hallway near the main medbay, taking a left and ripping apart two jammed, sparking doors. Boots slammed the floor as the two superior officers on the _Enterprise_ raced to save Chekov. Behind a gurney on its side, they hid from an infected officer looking around the smaller medical lab all three found themselves in.

 _"_ _Chekov's waiting, Captain."_ McCoy remarked, watching several figures, one in particular locked in a room.

Losing his tolerance for the Gorn, Kirk whispered despite his anger. "On it. Just get the antidote. I want my ship back."Temporarily overheating his phaser, Kirk popped up and discharged a knockout shot, sending the man to the floor. In a supply closet, they retrieved stun grenades laid loosely on the floor.

Spock exited first, slipping into a darker hall lit by fire. Kirk moved with his back to the Vulcan's, shooting down another ill officer. In the observation lounge itself, an infected crewman drew Spock's stun fire. Two muscular, shielded Gorn stepped between comatose and possibly dead security officers pounding on the doors to get inside. They were almost ready to, if Kirk hadn't lobbed one of their grenades. The small explosive erupted with great force, blowing the two reptiles away. Blood splattered everywhere.

Spock knelt and examined the crewmen nearby. Kirk had only utilized grenades because of their minimized blast radius and maximum damage.

Kirk grew impatient, looking between the doors and the Vulcan. "Well? How are they?"

"They are alive, sir. Though badly hurt by the skirmish with Gorn fighters, all of these men and women are –"

"I know, alive. Tag them and beam them directly to sickbay when we can." Kirk looked at the console on the door that protected his tactical and navigational officer. His face fell. He could hack Gorn code. This was not Gorn – this was not anything he'd seen before. Behind him, several bleeding, beaten and broken officers slowly breathed against the floor, no longer aware of what was happening around them.

Seeing the Captain's plight, Spock stood and commenced hacking the console. Sweating, he struggled for a bit until finally the panel gave confirmation and turned to green. The doors slid open, just fast enough to not be hit by the men as they flew in. Hearing nothing, Kirk didn't know whether he'd find Chekov comatose and broken, or perhaps bleeding out from some gory injury.

When his eyes finally rested on the floor, he saw the fit, nervous Russian sitting on the floor, leaning on an elbow. No one on the ship was happier than he was in that moment.

"Keptin, thank goodness you're here." His voice was breathy. Chekov could swear his heartbeat could be overheard by the others.

"Mister Chekov, you appear to be injured." Spock noticed a particularly bad wound on his arm, and an even worse one across his thigh. The navigator's clothes were ripped. His hands grasped at wounds and aching areas of his body, but couldn't possibly reach all of them.

Through what appeared to be immense pain, the young forced out the words. "I will be fine. How are the others out there?"

Kirk rushed to his side, kneeling down and putting one arm around the injured man's shoulders, the other grabbing Chekov's other hand. "They're alright. Bones should be able to get them taken care of when transporters are operational." With a thrust, he lifted Chekov up onto his feet, stabilizing him before proceeding. "Let's get you back to medbay."

"What happened to transporters?"

Kirk shrugged as much as he could with the extra weight leaning on him. "I don't know, medbay can beam out people to quarters, but the tethers seem to block out some areas from transporters all together." He tilted his head. "Just be glad. You didn't have any of these lizard things coming in to get you."

"Mister Chekov, the code to the door you were locked behind – was that yours?"Spock noted.

"Yes, sir. One I used to secure my personal belongings, with a slight modification." Chekov sighed. "It is surprising how quickly the mind works when in trouble."

Spock considered this. "It was very well constructed."

The navigator grimaced at the thought and groaned. The doors slid open, and Spock led the tandem of officers out. Kirk sighed as he realized he would not be able to assist Spock by grabbing his own weapon. He tried to reach it anyway, to no avail. "Darn."

Chekov smiled weakly, removing his own phaser with an otherwise useless hand. "I've got you covered, Captain." Both the Captain and First officer were amazed at the strength the youngest man showed through his obvious pain.

"Watch out!" Chekov said, pointing ahead to an infected man hiding behind a pole. Spock moved to subdue him while Kirk noticed an enforcer coming through an open side doorway. If he moved to shoot the Gorn, he'd drop Chekov. If he didn't get his phaser, the Gorn would fill both of them with projectiles.

Extending an arm with lightning speed, Chekov let out a long yell, firing repeated blasts of red energy into the blue, burly mass. With a scream the creature dropped, leaving Chekov quiet and shocked, and Kirk surprised. He met Chekov's nervous grin with one of his own.

"Nice shooting."

"Thank you." He answered between breaths. "I've been practicing."

As Kirk helped Chekov hobble through the corridors, he remembered the last time he had done this same thing for someone else. Admiral Pike was safely back somewhere in San Francisco, probably going over personnel reports or attending important academy lectures. Based on the rate news moved through Starfleet's upper channels, plus the fact there was interference aroundthe rip delaying communications, Pike was probably only finding out _now_ that his former ship, crew and protégée had gone into another area of space to fight for the survival of the galaxy. Kirk couldn't help but smile thinking of the story he'd have to tell his mentor once he returned to Earth orbit.

Once again, the _Enterprise_ rumbled. Another tether bashed her hull. By what Kirk had heard, they would _have_ to go back to Earth just to get some repairs and give his crew some time off. For weeks, Kirk's prized vessel would be docked at one of the repair facilities located at the ends of the many transverse arms jutting out the beautiful hull of Starbase – 1, Starfleet's home base for any visiting ships.

Kirk addressed his pickup on the comm Chekov held up. "Bones, we found Chekov, get ready to receive more injured."

 _"_ _Uh huh...hold on. Get him here, quick!"_

Spock's eyes were fixed on his tricorder. "Captain, Chekov, there are three more infected individuals ahead."

"I've got it." Chekov said, swallowing and replacing his comm with his phaser. One by one as they met the men in the hall, Chekov moved his aim, targeting and stunning each ill officer and apologizing just before Spock delivered a right hook or uppercut into each stunned man, rendering them out cold. The Vulcan stepped quickly ahead toward a final threat near the locked horizontal doors leading into sickbay.

Spock's phaser fire alone would have killed the Gorn. Chekov's added attack was overkill, finishing off the otherwise strong reptile. The doors immediately unlocked and slid open, allowing Kirk, Spock and Chekov to enter slowly.

Seeing them arrive from across the room, McCoy broke away from his treatment of a patient, throwing away the used hypo spray in his hand. He waved a hand and ran toward a free bed. "Throw him on that gurney."

Kirk quickened his pace, much to Chekov's displeasure. He winced. "Keptin, would you please slow down a bit?"

"Almost there, buddy. The faster I get you on the gurney, the faster Bones can fix your leg." Kirk smiled, but could feel a pair of eyes staring on the back of his head. Turning to face the quizzical look, he cocked his head to the side. "What?"

Spock said nothing, but gave Kirk a look that suggested he had planned to say something and chose not to.

With a heave, Kirk rebelled against his stiff and sore muscles and lifted Chekov up onto a clean white gurney. The navigator was weaker and obviously tired. "Thank you, Keptin."

With a sympathetic look down at his PADD, and then to the Chekov, McCoy nodded confidently. "I'll get him fixed up." _If only helping the others was this easy,_ he thought.

Uncharacteristically, sickbay was filled with armed security officers. Kirk recognized one of the many men on duty. "Hendorff? What happened to the security team?"

With a look of exasperation and exhaustion, the bald, burly man with a gotee slowly looked up at Kirk from where he sat. "What do you think? They're all out of their minds. We're stretched thin. I've even had to give guns to doctors."

"Sorry, buddy. We're gonna change that." Kirk replied sharply. He almost wished he could stick around to watch Bones shoot things.

Seeing his Chief Medical Officer was free and waiting, he continued pressing. "Please tell me we have enough of that antidote."

McCoy observed his readouts, then nodded to his fellow doctors, and then Kirk. "Looks like we have _just_ enough. Now we've got to distribute it."

"Given the state of the infected," Spock surmised calmly,"administering the vaccine may prove difficult."

With a chance to be on the explaining side for once, McCoy's voice lifted. "Not as difficult as you think, Spock. The vaccine is airborne."

With an arched eyebrow, Spock replied with the word he frequently used in such cases. "Fascinating."

Beginning to understand, Kirk pressed further. "You mean we just pump it through the vents?"

McCoy nodded vigorously before his Captain finished, retrieving a sealed vile of green liquid and handed it carefully to Spock as if it were a priceless piece of fragile glass. To everyone on board, it was more than priceless. "Here's a highly concentrated batch of the vaccine. Get it into the generator's intake module and the vaccine should eventually spread through the entire ship. I've marked the nearest atmospheric generator on your tricorders."

Kirk did not want to wait another second. "Let's get to it." He broke into a run, followed by Spock who carefully placed the vial securely in his utility belt.

McCoy waved doctors toward him as several other unconscious but infected officers beamed. "I need triage over here!"


	17. Chapter 17

_Chapter 15_

 _Stardate 2259.33_

 _USS Enterprise – Corridors_

Time was running at the same rate it always was. But to the two officers racing for the atmospheric generators on the next deck, it felt as if it were speeding by. The only merciful detail about their journey was the fact that there were only two infected men Kirk and Spock unfortunately had to subdue. One lurking around a small lounge room did not see the stun grenade coming, nor did he really understand when his Captain choked him out, or set him on the couch. Another flash bang flew up the hall, giving Spock enough time to punch the overly strong, overly sick security officer down to the floor.

 _"_ _The sooner you two can get that vaccine airborne the better."_ McCoy reminded them. Kirk did not get angry, though he did begin to worry when a commotion gradually rose behind the sound of his doctor's voice.

The ladder leading up was no trouble to get by, nor were two well placed mines on the walls.

McCoy, however, was troubled. Though he tried to maintain calm, tried to keep level headed in adversity, it was hard for him to do. _"Jim, if you could get that vaccine in the airstream, I'd appreciate it. Things are getting a little crazy down here."_

Evidently the Gorn _really_ did not want anyone disturbing their work. As Kirk and Spock crouched beside the generator room's wide doorway, vocalizations allowed them to know the room itself was already compromised.

A warrior guarded the room, moving past the doorway and sniffing between supply containers. Two slender blue females Scott had surmised were "techs", or really intelligent females tried to understand the generator's controls. So far, it appeared they knew little more than the fact it took two to operate.

"They are trying to access the systems." Spock said. Based on the Gorn's brutality, he could only imagine with horror what the Gorn planned to do to the ships environment. Fill it with virus or perhaps make it more tropical to suit their reptilian biology.

"Not for long," Kirk muttered. He would give the Gorn something else to focus on.

Coming in guns blazing might not be what Spock had in mind for retaking the room. Nevertheless, they moved into cover, taking out the warrior and showering the techs with crimson bolts. The two females squawked and moved, firing yellow bio-energy back. As one shot pierced a thick, full crate, Kirk remembered these ones could shoot through walls if they wanted to.

They could also beam where they wanted, and call in drones. As Kirk finished thinking about it, two hovering Gorn drones did appear, moving up to get a good shot at them. Rifles up and shield functions activated several glancing and direct blows were absorbed into the semi-clear blue wall that protected them. Kill shots quickly followed, resulting in two more deceased Gorn and two burnt metallic hunks of waste in pieces across the deck.

Before he came around to the command input side of the generator, Kirk's eye caught on a single weapon laid it. Vulcan in origin, he'd learned that the pulse cannons were effective to use on anything.

"One of the New Vulcan colonists must have left it here." Dropping his own rifle, Kirk picked up the Vulcan weapon and held it in his hands.

Spock regarded him curiously. "Your phaser rifle was sufficiently charged, I do not –"

"Spock, hold on." Kirk wheeled and looked right back at his first. "These guys attacked New Vulcan. They've hurt so many people today. Isn't it almost poetic justice we should clear the ship with these things? Once we get the vaccine spread around, the Gorn are our only problem. Let's do this right."

Spock did not anticipate this action by Kirk. He thought carefully, and then replied professionally and purposefully as he met his Captain's stare.

"Do you know where I might find another one?"

Kirk repressed a thin smile. "Over in the next room. Watch out for mines."

Hurrying out, Spock shot a mine up the hall, then retrieved a second pulse cannon in place of his phaser rifle amongst supplies. Returning moments later, he placed the weapon on his back and a hand on his side of the console screen, bringing it to life. After inputting codes and commands, Spock removed the precious vial from his belt and poured its contents into the vent system latch, shutting the small door a second later. Through standard circular re-pressurization vents in the room, thick green gas hissed out, dissipating moments after it entered the air.

Seeing the plan was succeeding, Spock spoke into his comm. "Doctor McCoy – The vaccine has been inserted into the ship's environmental systems."

Throughout the ship, infected officers roaming the halls began to choke and cough, waving at the gas and grasping at their throats. Just seconds after the initial pain subsided, natural colour and behaviour returned to them. Though their uniforms were ripped and they were still covered in ooze, but the men and women who were ill just moments earlier were suddenly free to think and act of their own accord. Around the _Enterprise_ 's many decks, the brave crew reunited with their missing friends and loved ones, embracing and exchanging thanks that a cure was found. But their courage and bravery did not stop there. Led by the newly replenished security team, members of the crew began a hunt. Those who weren't still in their quarters moved from room to room, deck to deck expelling and eliminating Gorn fighters as they went.

Kirk waited for what seemed like eternity, but was actually a few seconds, for McCoy's report. "Bones? Are they okay?"

 **...**

Down in medbay, McCoy surveyed the patients. All showed signs of normal activity, all moaned and groaned with pain, holding their heads. Some were completely unconscious. Rapidly his medical team hurried to get them to cover, and security officers braced themselves.

McCoy took no notice, adjusting his scanners to go through the whole ship looking at all of the crew and how the ones he couldn't get to were faring. Neurological activity levels dropped to acceptable parameters, respiration and heart rates normal. Other readouts showed similarly good results. Having rescued the crew, he shared a look of gratitude and relief with two nurses and another doctor. Lips parted, sighing as he leaned in to his pickup.

"The toxins are disappearing from their bloodstreams. They'll have a massive headache when they wake up, but all their life signs are returning to normal."

 **...**

 _I like the sound of that._ Kirk and Spock paced out into the hall, making their way to the ladder that would take them down to sickbay. Another voice resonated on the communicator.

It was Scotty, sounding slightly pleased with what he _"Captain, whatever you're doing so far, it seems to be taking its toll on the Gorn."_

"Have they been incapacitated, Mister Scott?" Spock replied, not the least bit anything but professional.

 _"_ _Not really, sir. But they_ definitely _don't like it."_

 _"_ _We're not out of the woods yet."_ McCoy hurriedly interjected. "They're breaching!"

Adrenaline kicked in, forcing both Kirk and Spock forward at an incredible clip. Kirk could barely respond before he reached the ladder. He tried his best to be professional as Spock had, but could not contain his edge of fear. "We're on our way, Bones."

 **...**

 _Stardate 2259.33_

 _USS Enterprise – En route to Bridge_

In the hours that she'd explored the halls of the _Enterprise_ , Nyota Uhura had somehow managed to evade being found by any sick-minded crewmen and –women, let alone the numerous Gorn intruders. Just when they seemed about to corner her, she slipped into the shadows and left her pursuers to explore an empty room. She had never really taken in just how large the ship was until then, but because she had to keep moving and keep working with little time to stop at all gave her a chance to explore sections she didn't have time to see previously. She also didn't realize just how scary the ship could be either, dark and bathed in deep vermillion emergency lights. With most if not all of the remaining healthy crew left hiding inside officer's quarters, she felt at times as if she was the only one onboard. Every now and then, the sound of stamping boots, quaking hull plating, moaning and wailing officers or distant growls would send shivers up her spine. With her nerves on the teetering point of being frayed, the noise from cold claws and hisses echoing off the walls gave her every reason to seek shelter whenever possible.

She did have several things that made her journey slightly easier. First of all, she had received a single message from Spock. It essentially said that he was back safe, and that Kirk and the rest of the shuttle crew were assisting him in taking back the ship. He asked if she was okay, to which she had responded that she was. This allowed her to focus her thoughts elsewhere. Even in the most simple, basic messages the feelings put behind them were far from platonic. Neither he nor Kirk had sent her anything since, but she knew they were winning the battle for the _Enterprise_. The regular lights were on and ship's computer displays were active. A gaseous substance seeping out of the vents knocked out many of the infected, leaving the halls much simpler to navigate. At first she was taken off guard, believing it to be a Gorn weapon. Noticing the conditions of the officers improving, however, she realized it was probably something cooked up by McCoy and his staff. _Great job, doctor._

Strangely enough, she hadn't seen any Gorn. Any living ones, that is, in quite a while. A few draped loosely on the ground showed signs of being ambushed and soundly defeated by the valiant security teams braving the darkness. Her knee-high boots made little of any sound as she glided down the hallways and toward the bridge. Now that the crew were okay, she could try relaying messages between medbay staff and injured, worried officers, and coordinate attacks on remaining intruders that still hadn't been found. Analysis of Gorn and Lymax language patterns and research data found on the planet had given the skilled linguist something to pass the time in her quarters while she attempted to get low frequency, tight beam communications to fellow officers and friends. The ever competent communications officer did all she could under the circumstances, and as usual found ways to circumvent even the most difficult problems.

Reluctant to take the turbolift, she headed down a corridor in crew quarters, pausing outside one particular door. In appearance, there was no appreciable difference between it and hundreds of others in the section. _Behind_ those doors was another matter entirely.

She pressed one hand against the keypad, toying with the idea of going inside. Though the first officer was not to be found there, she knew she'd probably feel safer in the small room than anywhere on the ship. A light blinked behind her, and she sighed, backing away. _Duty calls_...

She'd only taken two steps away from the wall when a sound caused her to freeze in her tracks. It was barely perceptible, the kind of thing she'd take for granted if this were any other day. The dull clunk of metal flexing slightly beneath weight that was not hers. _And now, time for a rousing game of "Threat Roulette"..._

Carefully stepping from around a corner, her phaser drawn, Uhura found herself staring back at two pairs of yellow eyes. The two reptiles that possessed them were warriors, from what she remembered what she'd learned about Gorn types. Tall, armed, fierce and covered with basic armour to protect sensitive areas of their body. By all accounts, her muscular foes had every advantage. The Gorn believed it.

That was her advantage.

Gorn females were not meant primarily for fighting. Perhaps that was why the Gorn were both caught off guard when the slender female humanoid became a whirlwind, throwing punches and kicks with perfect accuracy and precision. First she disarmed them, then immobilized them, and with a few quick phaser blasts, eliminated them. Precision, skill, and desperation willed her to duck below flailing arms and away from swinging claws as she made _very_ quick work.

 _Problem solved._ As tired as she was, she really wouldn't have to do that again. Letting out a short quick breath, she continued onto the bridge and assumed her position on the bridge that was familiar. For once she was back in command.

 **...**

 _Stardate 2259.33_

 _USS Enterprise – Sickbay_

Kirk didn't even bother sliding all the way down, leaping off at the halfway mark and landing hard on the deck. Spock's boots hit just as hard. Both men took off running, hurried by both the close proximity of sickbay itself and the fact McCoy pointed out to them just how bad it was getting.

 _"_ _Could_ really _use you two back in medbay, things are getting hectic here."_ Gunfire behind McCoy didn't ease anyone's mind. The thought of his chief doctor, his friend getting attacked was bad enough. Pile on the fact that is was in _sickbay_ with several _injured_ crew already suffering, and Kirk and Spock both hurried, somehow willing themselves to go faster.

 _"_ _Hurry. I'm not sure how long my boys can hold 'em off."_

As he turned the corner, Kirk saw scarlet beams scream past and at two Gorn warriors who fired back in the direction of their attackers. Ahead, two more warriors tried to shoot through the crack between two horizontal doors at more security officers.

Kirk wasted no time searching for a response. The Vulcan pulse cannon had already proven to be a deadly weapon. He sprayed the attackers full spread, riddling them with cannon fire. As smoke rose in the air, Kirk took advantage of the Gorn's disorientation and lack of a coordinated or accurate counter attack. Looking over his shoulder, he could only explain what he saw as if Spock had become a machine. Without any hesitation, he fired as effectively and dispassionately as an attack drone, emptying his entire energy clip on his adversaries.

With a final few shots, Kirk and Spock dispatched the other two near the medbay doors. As they slid apart, Captain and first officer entered and jogged toward the chief doctor.

"You know, Spock, I never thought I'd tell _you_ this, but calm down." Kirk shrugged and smiled slightly.

 _"_ _I am."_ Spock answered with a steely gaze. As long as he was attacking so proficiently, Kirk would not argue any further. He _needed_ his first officer's determination.

"Over here!" McCoy waved them forward, casting a worried look at the far doors. His hands shook as the two officers approached him. "Woah, this is getting too close for comfort."

"Bones – sitrep." Kirk asked, still gripping his weapon tightly.

The doctor took a long drink from a cup on a nearby table. "It's been a frantic few minutes, I don't mind telling you. I've spent more time on _recon_ than regeneration." He indicated several staff members who appeared to be engaged in their usual activities, but with slightly less ease than normal. Security was heightened to a maximum, and all were at the ready.

Nurse Kim raced up to McCoy, almost bumping into the man as she struggled to speak. "Sir!" Her head whipped to the side. "Captain, Commander. Something's just been placed on the containment doors." She pulled the computer screen around until it faced the four of them. "There. It appears to be a hacking tool."

Spock leaned closer to see the highlighted football-sized object stuck along the seam between the doors. Moving the readouts over and panning back, he saw a large number of Gorn forms hiding around the corner. Kirk saw this as well. He addressed the bewildered security officers who stiffened at the sound of their Captain's orders, which were particularly emphatic.

"Watch those doors!" He barked. "Stay back from the blast radius, and prepare to fire!"

Screams erupted from doctors, nurses and those who were now awake from the cure's induced coma state. Quickly they rushed into cover behind anything, mostly into locked rooms and observation treatment areas. A few ducked behind the biobeds they had recently been leaning over or lying on.

McCoy stepped back behind a solid glass containment wall, almost shielding his patients and doctors who had already chosen that spot. "I think we pissed them off!" He pressed his hands against the glass and stared intently at the doors as if he could will the seal to hold.

Spock looked at Kirk. "It is logical they would choose to mount an attack here. If they wish to reassert control over the ship, they will try to eliminate the source of their virus' cure."

The very second the device exploded, both containment doors flew open. Through smoke and flames, Gorn poured into the room, shooting in all directions. Both the screeching rushers and muscular warriors swarmed a single man caught up close to the actions.

They didn't swarm him for long. Kirk and Spock, who had become a two-man army, almost made the security personnel stand back and watch as they took over wreaking havoc on the reptilian pests that entered sickbay. While Kirk worked to push the Gorn back out the doors with a hail of fire, the lone security officer joined in, shooting red bolts into the floor at a rusher that swiped at his legs. Spock's moves were more calculated and precise. With the efficiency and speed of the best trained strike force team member, he whipped back and forth shooting blue projectiles at anything with scales that moved. One by one they were picked off, only to be replaced by others of the same type.

It made no difference. Spurred on by the heartened performance and effort of their superior officers, security personnel joined in, only increasing the odds in their favour. With the fight not only for their ship, but for their lives and that of their friends, the stakes resonated strongly with every man and woman who took up arms. Enforcers quickly stepped into the room, following the warriors and slow-minded rushers. Even their brute force and maurader fire barely touched the crew. Kirk and Spock drained the entire clip, switching to hand phasers and then back to pulse cannons at will. When one hall was cleared, security ran across the hall, led by their Captain and first officer. Kirk shouted as boots pounded the dirty, blood and muck covered deck.

 _"_ _Don't let them through!"_

McCoy shuddered behind a console. "Damn it, this is a hospital, not a shooting range!" he growled.

Warriors beamed in, but as Kirk arrived at the half open doors he could see that the two officers in the hall already. Still, he was all too happy to help them out. Squeezing the trigger, he took down attacker after attacker, spreading out the fighters in the confusion. Spock did the same. Their numbers quickly depleted under heavy fire as the fight once again changed to a one sided battle.

A flash of light flew over Kirk's head. It was not a shot. It was a transporter beam. Pivoting on a heel, he fired at the slender blue female and took her down before she could get close to McCoy. Spock eliminated the drone that was hovering overhead.

Sighs of relief and groans from officers discovering their previously unknown injuries filled the silence. Spock surveyed the Gorn bodies around him."That _appears_ to be the last of them."

Kirk felt his strength returning to him as fast as he felt his command returning. He had no hesitation, only firmness in his tone. "Good. Now let's end this. Mister Sulu, you ready to go?"

 **...**

Back in his own quarters, Sulu tapped his display screen. In the center, the highlighted outline of the _Enterprise_ sat still against the star map. Surrounded by tethers, small and large Gorn ships, and debris, it seemed that there was no way out for the streamlined Starfleet craft, but Sulu and Scott had both worked out the right frequency for the shields to pulse at. After checking a wavelength reader once more, he nodded and addressed the pickup.

"Ready, sir. Waiting on your command."

 _"_ _Do it."_

Not waiting a second longer, he initiated the start up sequence. Scott and a select number of engineering staff monitored the activity as Sulu diverted auxiliary power to the bow and aft shields.

Along the periphery of the _Enterprise_ 's form, a blue burst of light rippled across the hull, terminating all contact points between the Gorn ships and the sleek grey hull, now pitted with damaged spots. Tethers that held the ship in place glowed brighter than ever, bouncing back the way they came. The ships that surrounded the lone Starfleet ship like a large pack of wolves received the overwhelming heat and pressure, frying their circuitry and igniting fuel that provided forward propulsion. The Gorn inside could not react, perishing quickly in succession of explosions.

 **...**

Silently, the men in sickbay exchanged relieved and satisfied expressions. The rumbling for the most part ceased all together.

McCoy watched as several gurneys were wheeled by carrying unconscious men and women, and several other future patients beamed in from around the ship. His work was cut out for him. As his subordinates moved to help the incoming injured, he was already more than ready to assist, med kit in hand and tricorder on his belt. "I'll stay here and look after the injured; you do what you need to do." He grinned at the Human and Vulcan turning to leave, when all three could hear a voice that resonated over the commotion around them. It was coming from the first officer's communicator.

 _"_ _SPOCK!"_ Uhura cried, voice cracked and strained. What sounded like a mixture of growls, vocalizations and laughter from several Gorn filled the background. Spock wheeled around to face Kirk, his face drawn with sudden fear. He swallowed hard as his mind flooded with possibilities as to what the Gorn planned to the communications officer. McCoy silently indicated her location: the bridge.

Uhura listened on her end, then began to translate what Kirk had already figured the Gorn would say. _"He wants you to give him control of the ship."_ Though not word for word, her version of the Gorn's demand would suffice. There were things she just _wouldn't_ say.

Spock didn't care _what_ they had said. _"Do NOT harm her!"_ The communication cut dead, only increasing the worry between them. McCoy was speechless, but could not help but panic for the life of the one person alone on the ship's command center.

Arms clapped Spock's shoulders. The empathetic face of his Captain faced his own. With emotions running high, the younger man appealed to the older man's logic. "Spock, it could be a trap."

"If Lieutenant Uhura is..." Spock couldn't finish. _If Nyota is hurt or killed, I will not be able to forgive my inability to protect her._ The Vulcan maintained composure, but emotions threatened.

"Don't worry, Spock. We'll get her back." Kirk knelt down and placed his pulse cannon on the floor, grabbing a Gorn pillager instead. Spock did so as well, familiarizing himself with Gorn weaponry.

Kirk faltered. "Mister Scott, is there any way we can beam Uhura off the bridge?"

Scott sighed. "Nae, sir. The others are too close. I kinna do anything."

No response came. Kirk had no time, and neither than the imperilled Lieutenant. With long strides, they left sickbay behind them and entered a turbolift bound for the bridge.

 **...**

 _Stardate 2259.33_

 _USS Enterprise – Sickbay_

It didn't take long for the two men to race off for the bridge. McCoy watched them go, amazed once again at the capabilities of the humanoid body to endure long periods of action without rest, food or decent medical care. Those two men had been through hell and back today, and he seriously hoped that their adrenaline would continue pumping until they made it back in one piece.

He returned his attention to some of the newly injured before him. A few were his own people; in a reversal of the normal, two security officers assisted an orderly onto a biobed. The blond man was pale and sweaty, bleeding from an abdominal wound. The rest of medbay was being cleaned up and sanitized; Gorn bodies and blood were moved into quarantine along with their apparently volatile weapons that couldn't make extended direct contact with bare humanoid skin.

"Put some pressure on that, Maskiewicz! I'll be there in a jiff." He flew to a cupboard and filled his arms with fresh supplies, grabbing bottles, tools, and hypo sprays. Just as he shifted sideways to catch a falling jar, a hand touched his arm. He turned and looked into the face of a concerned nurse.

"You're not operating on _anyone_ with that hand." She looked down at the appendage in question, and his eyes followed her gaze. Fresh blood oozed out of a phaser burn. _Now when did that happen?_

"I'll be fine, just give me one minute." He replied, scanning across the sea of blood, broken bones, ragged nerves and exposed flesh as he and the relatively healthy contingent of his medbay staff along with any volunteers who arrived tried to put them broken officers back together. Vulcans who had taken refuge on the _Enterprise_ did what they could to ease the troubled minds of the injured, performing melds and other means of therapy that were normally reserved for Vulcans only. Grateful for the efforts of the ship's crew that had saved their only safe haven, they were more than happy to return the favour.

McCoy felt emotional. Strangely in that moment he did. He couldn't quite pinpoint whether it was grief at the sight of the several devastations he'd seen, the fear, or the stress of wondering whether or not his best friends would come back alive when they ran off saving to save someone.

Returning to his work, he noticed something that didn't seem right. In the calm that was his sickbay returning to normal activity, a new dread arose from near the hallway doors. One by one, people pulled back and began yanking people who couldn't move on their own into cover. With the gurneys full and floor space being taken up, it became difficult to manoeuvre around without stepping on or stumbling over people. Desperate and terrified officers dove into cover. Straining his eyes, McCoy could see what was causing the commotion.

A single Gorn, looking almost lost, caught sight of the room filled with potential victims. Though severely outnumbered, the warrior appeared to be still focused on the task that so many of its comrades had failed at. _You've gotta be kidding me..._

McCoy's first instinct would be to run and hide. Very uncharacteristically, he didn't. There was no phaser at his side, but there were also no security officers close enough. His patients, his nurses and doctors were in danger. Kirk and Spock had shown bravery that went above and beyond the call of duty as a Starfleet officer. With a rush of adrenaline and courage, he raced through the crowd, grasping a metal rod and smashing through the glass that protected a ravager. Normal apprehension would have stopped him from touching the thing, but this whole day was anything but normal. With contempt and a firm, angry glare, he faced down the creature that threatened his sickbay.

 _"_ _Hey! You!"_ McCoy shouted. The gnarled reptilian visage regarded him curiously. The pillager in his clawed hands rose up.

Marching forward, McCoy pulled back the trigger, unleashing the power of the Gorn gun on the reptile. Semi-automatic, semi-biological plasma shots fired out in rhythm, tearing into its hide. Breathing heavily, he delivered one final blast and a blow to the head with the butt of his weapon, killing the attacker before a single shot could be discharged back at him. Stunned officers and crew watched the country doctor turned commando stood shocked at what he'd just pulled off. Stupidly dangerous, and in a way hypocritical to everything he believedin. Still, he did not regret doing what he did.

Sighing, he dropped the weapon onto a containment table and tapped the controls to bring it up the force field around it. "Seal off the area, security! Make sure no others get through." He examined his hands, which were now bleeding more.

He shot the nurse behind him a look. "Now I'll get my hand healed."

Regarding a few curious looks, he sighed again. "What? _Nobody_ attacks my sickbay. Or my patients. Or my staff." He'd be damned if he'd have to stay here any longer than possible. After all he and the others had done just to reclaim the ship, now was not the time to back down to the invaders. But he didn't have time to consider any of this. Even as this all occurred still more injured requested assistance. With Kirk and Spock doing what they did best, it only made sense he did the same.

 _This is a nice change from hiding or running from giant lizards_ , he thought. "Now, let's get working! We've got a few hundred people to aid."

 **...**

 _Stardate 2259.33_

 _USS Enterprise – Bridge_

It only took a second for Spock to lay eyes on Uhura. Kirk had never seen his first officer come this close to showing genuine fear and distress.

The communications officer, slightly beaten up and confused, was restrained by large reptilian arms. Where the Captain might normally be on any given day, the large warrior that earlier had been imprisoned in the ship's brig now stood, head facing ahead looking out the forward view. This was about the only stronghold the Gorn had left, and it was the most important of all. Kirk didn't know whether to look toward his captured friend or the lizard that wished to occupy his command, but by the way Uhura was being threatened, he knew that he and his first had very few cards left to play, with the highest stakes at risk. _My ship and my crew._

The largest head turned. Evidently, this one was not up to play anything, especially not with humanoids he found inferior. _Particularly_ with two who had shot him within an inch of his life. Through her fear, Uhura could make out every word that the other two officers on board only understood as growls and snarls.

 ** _"_** ** _Pathetic creatures. I have allowed you too much freedom."_** Back arched, he leaned forward, shaking his fist and waving his claws expressively at the forward consoles. He had enough of trying and failing to hack into the computers. ** _"Override the systems and give us control of this ship or this woman dies."_** An extended claw indicated the helpless lieutenant. Her neck was bent sideways at an uncomfortable angle, evading the blade of an energy axe that almost pressed against her delicate throat. One of the two guardians jerked it forward. Dread fought weakness on her face as her eyes met Spock's.

Kirk replied coldly and sharply under his breath. "You want control. I'll _give_ you control."His fingers rapidly moved across helm controls, searching until he locked onto one particular remote signal.

The first officer followed him to the controls. Spock's worried gaze shifted towards the small screen, but the captain's hands obscured his actions. As he continued inputting various commands, Spock recognized the significance of them. He knew what Kirk was doing. "Captain, that is inadvisable," he cautioned, trying not to raise his voice or the Gorn's suspicion.

Kirk put a hand up. "Don't worry – I've got this." Silently his eyes implored with Spock to trust him. Without hesitation, Spock followed his Captain's gaze back to the instrumentation.

Out among the tangled debris and waves of Gorn ships, the empty Starfleet shuttle that had piloted them on and off an alien planet came to life. Turning slowly, the craft set a new course and engaged impulse engines. Its nose was not pointed out at a vast star field anymore.

Instead, it was aimed directly at the bridge of the _Enterprise._

 **...**

Kirk felt nervous as the Gorn stood over him, growing increasingly impatient. If they turned around, they would see what was going on and realise that control was the last thing they were getting from the Captain. One miniscule piece of inconsequential debris in the vast sea of damaged pieces grew larger and larger. With careful and controlled movements, Kirk adjusted the craft's trajectory as it made its final approach toward the forward glass screen.

Very possibly, this could end in the entire bridge being exposed to the unforgiving vacuum of space. Kirk acknowledged this, but knew that his death and that of Spock and Uhura would result in the _Enterprise_ falling back under full control of Scotty and the rest of his crew. At least they could go home, they would be safe. With the right impact, they might be able to just knock the Gorn off balance, just long enough to fight back. Kirk wouldn't give up this easily. He wanted his ship back.

The screen's view rapidly filled with the image of a shuttle's front. Kirk, Spock and Uhura braced for impact. The Gorn around them noticed, and then cast looks out on the screen. It was too late.

The violent smashing noise that followed deafened everyone. The solid glass screen fractured but stayed intact, though jagged web-like cracks spread out all over it. Kirk slammed back hard into his chair, Spock and Uhura lurched forward and then back onto the helm. Large Gorn bodies tumbled along the deck, flailing to stay balanced and failing miserably. The shuttles nose stuck to the screen and the seemed to be solidly a part of the larger ship now. Sparks shot out from the ceiling again as they had many times before.

Spock watched helplessly as Uhura's head was pulled back by her long ponytail by one of the recovering guardians. Leaping up onto the neighbouring navigator's console, the Gorn lieutenant roared and crouched, preparing to pounce onto the limp Captain. Kirk still groaned from the pain of hitting his ribs against the unyielding arm of his chair. He could only shoot a cursory look at his attacker, awaiting the reptile's weight that was sure to land on top of him.

The force of two muscular, powerful legs propelled the Gorn toward him. Behind him, glass shattered, allowing huge amounts of air to escape the room. Rapid depressurization on the bridge negated the Gorn's forward momentum, freezing him mid-flight.

Reaching as far as he could, he swiped a claw in Kirk's direction before following the shuttle, the glass and the other two reptilian invaders outward into open space. Chairs and any other loose objects flew by. Kirk became weightless, being tossed from his captain's chair and toward the large hole. It took all of his strength to grasp the navigation console. His body was still vertical and flailing in the high winds that whipped into space.

All of this happened in a split second, but felt painfully slow to the _Enterprise_ lieutenant. Uhura lifted off the deck as if picked up by a tornado. Her arms reached for anything, but grabbed only air. Heart racing and mind wheeling, she shot a desperate look at Spock, her yell muted by the roar from the ship's atmosphere exiting the bridge. The last thing she'd see was Spock's face, she determined. Spock, with both arms around the top of the helm, looked back in horror at the woman flying back in the relentless torrent of air toward the empty screen frame. Into space.

With a thrust of a hand at the last possible moment, Spock's firm hand clutch Uhura's slender wrist, holding her at full length. The three remaining occupants of the bridge became like streamers, thrashing about as the internal atmospheric generators fought to fill the room as fast as it emptied. The vacuum awaiting them tugged at their feet. Though Spock's strength ebbed and faded, he willed his Vulcan strength to hold on tight, refusing to let go of the console that anchored them both. With his hands weakening, he knew that they had to fix the hole soon, or all of them would be lost. If space won out over his determination, he would let go of the console, but not Uhura.

Kirk felt his breathing strained almost beyond the point at which his lungs could function. He slowly fought the suction power and got his mouth close enough to the computer pickup, screaming over the bellowing noise that threatened to suffocate them all. He only had energy to exert a quick, simple command that the systems would understand.

 _"_ _Computer – Repair bridge!"_

After endless seconds, two large airtight metal doors came in from the sides, slamming shut across the open hole and sealing the bridge off from the outside. Air and natural pressure returned to the room, allowing all three to regain footing on the floor and take in deep breaths.

Spock encompassed Uhura in his arms. Her eyes silently displayed gratitude, fear, relief, love and confusion all at the same time. Spock regarded her face. Her hair was blown about and dishevelled, her face was bruised from the blood vessels breaking in the absence of atmosphere in the bridge, and her uniform was wrinkled and equally tousled. Any sign of her usual calm demeanour was gone. Though shaken, she was unbroken.

To Spock, the slender African woman looked beautiful. She always was, but in this moment he was tremendously thankful he still had her in his presence, safe and sound.

Kirk was shaken as well, but quickly resumed his command face and stature. Straightening up, he purposefully strode to his captain's chair, planting himself down and adjusting it toward the front. He tapped the comm and addressed the pickup."All personnel, report to stations."

 **...**

 _Stardate 2259.33_

 _USS Enterprise – Bridge_

There was nothing else to say. Though the message wasn't a rousing, encouraging speech or compliment, the entire crew felt relief and energy brim within them. Each one swiftly ambled around, trying to make their way back to their stations and control consoles. McCoy, the doctors and nurses in sickbay hurriedly healed and discharged officers, restoring order and normal managementover their department. Engineers under Scott's keen supervision spread out,scramblingaround the vessel's decks now clear of Gorn, hurriedly fixing conduits, rerouting power flows and replacing key components of various instrumentsthat were necessary for standard ship functions. One by one the blank yet vital displays and readouts flashed on. Over used auxiliary energy supplies were relieved as main power was fully restored. Security teams exhaled deeply around the ship, finally acknowledging the victory over the intruders and joining both Vulcan civilians and _Enterprise_ scientists in the cleanup effort that was underway. If Kirk could see it all, he'd be proud of his crew's speed, professionalism and efficiency.

Spock pulled back from Uhura, regarding her eyes with all the emotion his logic-driven Vulcan conduct could contain. "Nyota, I am very much relieved to see you are unharmed." His voice was soft and warm.

He briefly wished he could have reached out in time to save another woman he'd loved, but put the thought out of his mind. It was illogical to think about changing the past when doing so is virtually impossible.

Uhura inhaled and tried to stop herself from shaking. "I...I'm fine, Spock." She insisted gently, sensing Spock's assessment of her health had not convinced him. Thought she'd smile later at his concern for her, she couldn't do so now.

Kirk could. Leaning back in his chair, he was still catching his breath when he shot a grin at the two embracing officers. "We made it, Spock. I told you we'd get the ship back."He stretchedand relaxed into the chair that felt better and better every time he sat down into it.

The Vulcan's head tilted. "Perhaps we should return to our stations."

Uhura strode back to her console, leaning over it since her usual chair was now outside amongst the debris. "Captain, I've got positive reports coming in from all over the ship. Security confirms no Gorn fighters are alive on the ship. Medbay reports that people are being cleared and injury counts may not be as severe as first thought. Engineering says damage reparations are underway and going smoothly as it can go. The ship is operational and anything that isn't should be back online momentarily." The communications officer smiled weakly.

Kirk smiled again. "Good." He waved a hand in the air. "Take down red alert status and unlock all secured areas."

Spock did not share his enthusiasm. "We must go after them. We do not have time to waste."

Kirk sighed. "I know. We have to get this ship functioning at maximum first."

Technicians filed onto the bridge, moving new chairs in and commencing repairs on sparking circuitry and display screens. Then Kirk saw Chekov, Sulu, and other familiar bridge crew members hurrying to their assigned spots.

"Navigator on the bridge!" Everyone regarded the Captain with smiles and admiration, except for Chekov. Still gingerly putting weight on his leg, he stepped down the stairs and toward the Conn. He looked confused.

Spock paused. "That is not protocol, sir."

The Captain shrugged. "What, Chekov? You always say that for me? I'm happy to see you. How's the leg?" He pointed at the Russians formerly damaged limb.

"Thank you, sir. My leg is completely better, thanks to Doctor McCoy." As he finished, he sat down in the new chair. "Scans indicate the enemy fighters are regrouping. With the interference no longer protecting us, we must commence a frontal attack on them before they can surround us. It is the only way we can keep the ship from sustaining anymore extensive damage."

Kirk thought about this. "Sulu? What do you think?" McCoy strode onto the bridge, one hand on the back of his neck. Sulu assessed the situation on his screen and arrived at a conclusion.

"He's right, sir. They've got an uncountable number of ships out there. If we're gonna get the Helios machine away from the Gorn and get T'Mar back too, _and_ get out of here alive, we have to fight."

"Think you can manoeuvre out of this debris field?"

A curt nod. "Yes, sir." He smiled. "I've done harder things today alone."

Kirk stood, tugging his shirt hem down. "Locate the device. It's on the lead ship, and so is T'Mar. Once you find it, bring us in range and line us up. Spock and I are going over there."

Everyone on the bridge stopped what they were doing, turning to look at their commanding officer and chief science officer standing tall at the center of the bridge. Everyone was relieved just to see them in control again, and now they planned to leave again on another mission that might leave the ship without either of them for good. Choosing to act confidentially and professionally, they refrained from raising any objections. Instead, they listened to what Kirk was obviously preparing in his mind for quite some time.

"The importance of this mission can't be stressed enough. I have already made up my mind that Spock and myself will go over there. I have complete confidence that all of you can take care of the ship until we can return. We'll be back before the rip closes. If we aren't, you know what you need to do."

McCoy would not back down that easily. He began to plead. "Jim, be rational. You and Spock just avoided death _five_ times today."

There was little time to debate their course of action. Kirk just placed an assuring hand on his shoulder. "So, I'm on a hot streak. Kicking probability in the rear. Your point?"

The doctor remained undeterred. "Why just you two?" His glare was met with another.

"Do you want to accompany us, doctor? By all means then." Sarcasm was evident in her voice. By now, the doctor had already forgotten all the success and good news he'd received in sickbay. Utterly frustrated at Kirk's seemingly never ending supply of risk taking spontaneity, he tried a different approach.

"No." McCoy sputtered, looking anxious. "I mean you should send a security team or something to assist you guys."

Spock stepped forward. "Doctor, we cannot allow any other members of the crew to come in contact with the Gorn."

Surprised by the Vulcan's response to McCoy's query, the Captain added on. "I will not send others to do what _we_ can do. Those things are violent and dangerous."

"The Gorn, as you certainly know by now, are a vicious, unforgiving and malicious race. They do not show any sign of care or feeling toward anyone they encounter. Every meeting with a new people is only beneficial to them as a new source of DNA, weaponry and slaves. They function on war and pillaging alone, with no desires for any form of peace or coexisting with anyone. Utilizing the Helios device, they will be able to extend their reign of terror and only become more powerful with every planet they overtake. The first target, undeniably, will be the Federation, and involve the systematic destruction of every homeworld in the pursuit of dominating every civilization." His lips pursed, as he paused for emphasis. "If Nero was a major threat, than the Gorn are destined catastrophe. Like the Romulans, the Gorn _must be stopped. Here and now._ "

McCoy nodded. He couldn't argue with the Vulcan's argument, or Kirk's. Silently he stepped back.

Kirk clapped Spock on the back. "Let's get suited up and head out. We've got a job to do."

 **...**

The _Enterprise_ was as prepared as she would ever be. The entire crew was at battle stations, manning every station and monitoring every function, calling out readouts and compensating for any problems that arose from the minor repairs or latent damage that remained from the previous attack. With the command chair now interfaced with the helm, Sulu brought the ship out of the cloud of debris and wreckage that surrounded it. Slowly, the impulse engines behind the saucer section pushed the sleek grey hull forward, steering around big and small pieces of destroyed Gorn vessel and into open space. Once clear, he vacated the seat and took the helm, being replaced at command by Scotty. The main monitor on the bridge changed from a view of nebula clouds and glinting metal and glass shards to that of a Gorn vessel. Its immense size almost blocked out everything else on the screen. Though they'd defeated it already, somehow being this far from home and the fact that the enemy vessel had way more assistance made the image intimidating to all those who watched.

"How much longer before the rip closes, Mister Chekov?"Dressed in full environmental gear matching their uniforms colours, Spock stood just ahead of Kirk in the turbo lift, clutching the pillager he still had in his hands. After the long hours they'd worked, both bodies were starting to feel long lasting effects from lack of rest. The need for survival and the near certain ultimate of failure pressed them on.

The navigator adjusted in his new chair, recalibrating his instrumentation. The calculations came back seconds later. Even the best computers on the ship could not determine the exact timing. _"An hour, maybe less. It's hard to know for sure, commander."_ The number of variables and unknowns made it impossible to be certain.

Uhura swivelled slightly in her seat. _"Do you_ really _think going to that ship is the best option? You've_ seen _what those things are capable of."_

Despite the feeling in the communication officer's voice, Spock replied coolly. "The Gorn _cannot_ be allowed to control the Helios device." The lift doors opened, allowing both men to stride out and down the exhaust port maintenance corridor. "Securing it and T'Mar are the _only_ way to assure the safety of the Federation."

Uhura was strained, but did her best to plead and at the same time keep her composure. _"Then promise me you'll be careful."_ Her eyes fought back the hint of tears that filled them. Stress of losing someone was something you'd have to prepare for in this job, but no one could go through it so many times so quickly without emotional distress.

Spock closed his eyes and lowered his voice. "I will do my best."

Kirk might have felt something at that moment too. His eyes flickered as his mind went elsewhere. At this point, he wasn't going to express it. "No time for long goodbyes." Bending over, he and Spock grasped the handles of the rocket sleds awaiting them on the deck.

Before initiating the sled's engines, Kirk addressed his helmet pickup. "Mister Scott, I _really_ want to get in and out that thing quick. Just don't break my ship while I'm gone, okay?"

Scott chuckled, his calm and assured voice echoed in both helmets. _"Don't you worry, sir. The crew and I will hold off those bloody lizard ships until you come back."_

Twisting the handles forward, the two machines clicked on. Indigo engines illuminated as two short propulsion arms suddenly jutted out of the sides. Breaking into a run, they used forward momentum to give themselves an extra boost.

On the bridge, Scott watched Human and Vulcan outlines on the main monitor running at the sprinting forward. With a single press of a button on the command chair's arm, he opened the port's doors, shooting the Captain and first officer into space.

Steering hard to avoid an initial cluster of metallic and composite plastic hazards from both Gorn vessels and the _Enterprise_ , Kirk and Spock found themselves in much clearer space. Phasers fired at the lead vessel, drawing attention away from the two officers in a space dive. "Sulu, we're gonna need a targeted torpedo strike. Blow us a hole and get us inside that thing," Kirk yelled, trying to overcome the noise of muffled explosions that by now were rocking the ship.

 **...**

"Aye, sir. We'll be ready." Sulu analyzed the hull of the Gorn ship square by square on a grid screen, ruling out sectors too close to main systems or heavily patrolled by guards. The hull had sustained repeated damage from both phasers and debris. In what seemed to be a wall of resilient copper armour, a relatively small area of the ship became indicated in red.

Sulu's eyes moved between monitor and readouts. "Tactical, do you confirm a weak spot?"

Chekov's eyes lit up. Straightening up, he allowed a slight smile to break across his face. "Got it. We target that point _precisely_ , and it should work. Our torpedoes are definitely capable of puncturing the hull right there."

With a glance as Scott behind him and a quick nod, the helmsman pressed his lips together and tapped his fingers across the controls, locking torpedoes on the point. Immediately he leaned toward his comm pickup, reporting the news to Kirk. "Captain, we've isolated a weak spot. Firing torpedoes in 5...4...3...2...1... _"_

"FIRE!"Another movement of his hands on the instruments unleashed a single torpedo screaming toward its mark. Already compromised by several encounters with the _Enterprise_ 's arsenal and debris collisions, without the protection of much of any shielding because of the power diversion to weapons, the lower hull of the Gorn mothership buckled and fragmented as the photon blasted its way through the metal structure. Fire erupted as the air inside sucked violently out, taking every Gorn crewmember into space with it. The gaping hole in the side of the vessel, even from where Sulu was watching, was more than big enough to allow the two incoming _Enterprise_ crew to enter.

Even though he didn't really need to, the helmsman regarded his readouts on analysis of the damage's extent. He saw what he already knew.

 **...**

 _"_ _Torpedo strike successful. Do you see your entry point?"_

Kirk smiled and almost let go of his sled to pump a fist in victory. No one could miss seeing the wide open puncture in the otherwise sound Gorn vessel. Spock did not give any sarcasm or make any note of the simplicity of entry in his response. "Mister Sulu, we have visual confirmation."

Contented expressions permeated the bridge. Sulu kept firm, but sent back a final message that was the only thing that made sense in this situation. _"Good luck."_

 _Thanks. We're gonna need it._ Kirk and Spock eased into the alien vessel. On their shoulders they didn't just carry the weight of their suits of weapons. They carried the only hope left for survival of their crew and their galaxy.

 **...**


	18. Chapter 18

_Chapter 16_

 _Stardate 2259.33_

 _Gorn Mothership_

Kirk's landing was a lot better this time. Immediately, Kirk knew that he couldn't be seeing what he thought he saw.

He landed on the deck, which was warped and covered in debris from the torpedo blast. Shredded metal blossomed outward from the entry point into the darkness of space. What he _didn't_ see were turrets, or anything that suggested that anybody used this section. If there had been, they were now spinning out into space. He glanced over at Spock. The Vulcan blinked rapidly; clearly his mind was processing the same visual information.

The way in Kirk expected was blocked by another long wall. "Where _are_ we?"

Spock's scans revealed intricate information about certain metals used in the Gorn ship's superstructure. It was stronger than he'd anticipated. "The ship appears to have a double hull. Mister Sulu's torpedo strike may have only punctured the outer layer."

"Then we need to find another way in." Kirk kept his weapon at the ready. A few bloated Gorn corpses floated in midair, dead from the blast and sudden depressurization. Even though they'd resisted the pull out into space, the sudden lack of atmospheric pressure did them in. _Guess they haven't conquered a species that uses spacesuits like ours yet._

Spock looked around as well, scanning for danger. "The Gorn will use all available resources to resource to search for intruders. It would be highly advantageous if we could avoid detection." The ongoing battle raged outside, briefly distracting the men.

Kirk eyed the security camera, raising his weapon toward it. "Yeah, well I prefer to take a more proactive approach to avoidance." With a spray of gunfire the surveillance device exploded. Several moving shapes caught his attention.

"More drones!" Kirk jumped behind a part of what was left of the outer hull. Both officers discharged projectiles from the Gorn weapons they possessed, eliminating each attacker systematically.

"There's got to be a way in somewhere." Pausing in the cleared hall, he placed a hand on his hip, and snapped his fingers with the other, producing no sound.

As winged vessels passed by the open wound in the hull, Spock caught Kirk's attention, pointing toward an airtight set of locked doors. "Captain, that airlock may be the answer to boarding this vessel."

 _Wonder what we'll find on the other side? A_ third _layer?_ "I think we can force this one open." They headed toward it, placing fingers into the depressed crack between the doors. With a heave, they reluctantly slid apart. Vents in the floor along the wall released air into the enclosure as the doors shut, allowing Kirk and Spock to remove their helmets.

"Smelly air is better than no air at all." Kirk strode down the hallway, Spock at his side.

The Vulcan glanced at his tricorder, about to say something, when Uhura's voice interrupted his train of thought. _"Captain, scans indicate that in order to proceed, you will need to destroy the ship's central column."_ She was referring to something the captain had seen earlier on a diagram in the briefing room. The mothership's main systems, including propulsion and sensors, were routed through a large processor that sorted and distributed signals throughout. A systemic disruption would essentially cripple their ability to detect and target an enemy presence.

"Thank you, lieutenant." Kirk studied the room as he listened, already trying to think of the best approach.

 _"_ _Sir, I know you've got your hands full, and I hate to bug you with our little problems, but can you do something about their weapons systems first? We're taking heavy damage here. We kinna take too many more hits!"_ Scott's voice had not a sign of sarcasm, only genuine tension.

To Kirk, that 'little problem' was a big problem. "Understood. Just try to hang in there a little longer."

Spock unlocked the door, allowing Kirk to enter into the next corridor. A Gorn initiate worked on a damaged security camera. Before it could wheel and fire at them, Kirk expended what was left of his ammunition and dispatched the fighter. Reaching down, he grabbed the ravager and dropped the pillager he held. Gorn weaponry shouldn't have any effect on his since his hands were covered. Down in a maintenance tunnel just below the floor, Kirk tried and failed to discern what the Gorn was doing.

"I guess the camera's just broken."

Spock looked over his shoulder, standing outside the entry tunnel. "There is another nearby that is fully functional. I will disable it." Running, he led Kirk across the floor and down into another maintenance passage where Spock efficiently destroyed the camera's circuitry and power flow. Once back up, Kirk did as he always had done and shot the camera itself into pieces.

"So they can't _re-able_ it."He mused. His scans initially caught a bloody slab being stored in yet another maintenance alcove. Disgust filled his mind as he acknowledged it. There were only two things he knew they were used for. Torturing people and experimenting on people.

"Hey Scotty, I don't suppose I need to even send you this to figure out its purpose."

A pause. Scott sounded sick. "Aye, sir. The Gorn tie their prisoners down and go to work on them. Makes me shudder to think of what exactly it is they do. I'm detecting several different foreign blood samples, and quite a bit of Vulcan blood plasma too. How can anyone so advanced be so heartlessly cruel?"

Kirk answered the only way he knew how in this case. "I don't know."

In the security room on their left, a Gorn tech and an initiate were both caught off guard. Neither had time to prepare adequately for the hail of their own weapons fire that killed them. Having finished the job rather quickly, Kirk leaned over to observe a squat rectangular computer bank, particularly focused on a design for an interesting piece of technology he hadn't seen before.

"That's weird." His facial features were highlighted by the blue glow on the screen.

"Indeed."

"What do you think it's used for?" Kirk was fairly sure they hadn't happened upon a Gorn aquarium. Even so, he double-checked the scans, looking for a little scuba diver on the bottom.

"They appear to hold some sort of liquid," Spock surmised. "They may be stasis chambers."

 _Or something altogether more gruesome._ Kirk's head snapped up as more Gorn feet pattered outside, investigating the cause of the Gorn screeches. The open window above a console provided the perfect line of fire. Both succumbed as Kirk and Spock unleashed another barrage at them. Two drones moving into the room behind them detonated under the heat of disrupter fire.

"Spock, hack that...thing!" His hand shook as he indicated a panel on the wall. Kirk knelt over the console he was still beside and commenced breaking through the Gorn coding. Though he had only ever learned about Federation tech, with limited info on Klingon and other non-member races, the Gorn configuration was becoming familiar with him.

"That _thing_ is a camera control junction." He began jury-rigging the automated energy flow and heat management. With a clicking noise behind the metallic components, he knew his hack was successful. "It has been disabled." He flipped the comm shut and hurried after Kirk's fleeing form.

"The doors are open, but we've got trouble. You disable that drone replicator. I've gotta clear out that room."

Spock halted the Captain. "That is not necessary. We do not have time to eliminate every Gorn officer on this vessel. Our time is limited. We have less than forty eight minutes before the rip closes."

Kirk didn't want any other sage advice from his first right now. "Spock, we need to get them before they get us. Those drones will follow us," He stopped, destroying another hovering automatic defence mechanism that approached. "And the Gorn will too. Think, Spock. They seemed to always know where to look when we searched the planet. They ambushed us, meaning they must have some kind of hive mind, some kind of telepathy perhaps."

Spock seemed impressed with Kirk's summary. "A logical assessment. We must work fast."

Fulfilling their separate tasks, each man eliminated the threats in under a minute. Much to Kirk's disturbed realisation, the destruction of the Gorn tech inside and the camera shortly after had become automatic for him. As he and Spock slipped under the destroyed arm of the security camera and into the next hall, he couldn't shake the feeling that he had become a veritable killing machine.

This was contrary to his own set of morals, and Starfleet's beliefs. But he and Spock both understood that three things pushed them forward and kept them on course, exterminating Gorn as they went. First, T'Mar and the device were missing and needed to be found. Secondly, the Gorn wanted to kill them and the _Enterprise_ crew, and would do so the instant they got the chance. Lastly, entire galaxies worth of people were threatened by the Gorn in the future.

Taking a pillager into his grasp, Kirk chucked his old weapon aside. There was no time to replace the ammunition, and little energy left to let their focus go long enough to do so. First they entered a small room, moving in the shadows of two support pillars to avoid detection. The Gorn tech inside stopped its work at a less-than-vital monitoring station, trying and failing to aim and fire before Kirk downed it. The drone assistant it called in fought with and lost to Spock.

"In order to access the next part of the ship, we will need to work together to undo the automatic security measures taken by the Gorn." Spock began. "As I suspected, each section of this vessel has been cut off to disallow us from proceeding. They know we are here."

"There are a lot of hostiles out there." Kirk glared, repressing a smile that almost came out. "You ready to do this?"

Spock shifted the ammunition gage, releasing spent shells on the ground. "Like I have said before, we must work fast." His eyes showed purpose and determination.

Hand phasers were ignored in the next two minutes. The stolen Gorn armaments proved to be fatal enough to the reptilian attack squad that awaited them up the hall. The weapons Kirk and Spock operated spat out high powered single and spread shots so fast that Kirk was almost having fun mowing down opponents. Piercing armour and flesh, the bullets almost made for a constant buzz as the two officers worked as one, killing initiates, drones and warriors that fired back tight energy beams and projectiles at the Human and Vulcan. Progressing up the hall, Kirk cleared out the far room while Spock disabled the turret emitter. With a final barrage, the Gorn tech fiercely guarding the access terminal put up a good fight, utilizing its own instrumentation to protect itself before finally being decimated by a hail of fire.

Kirk huffed and blew a lock of damp, sweaty hair off his forehead. "Well, that oughta be a record in some book, huh?" His look turned back to serious when Spock did not react. _Not the time for that._ "Come on, let's get the doors open and get through this place."

Because the room was divided into two halves by a glass partition, Spock was forced to run to the other door and remotely break in through a back door in the security processors he'd exploited several times already.

Tricorders beeped simultaneously. Multiple images appeared on the screen, showing what appeared to be the locking mechanism shutting down and disengaging from the large bay door just outside. With a knowing look, they exited the room as swiftly as they entered and ran toward the declining floor out the ascending bay doors.

 **...**

 _Stardate 2259.33_

 _USS Enterprise – Bridge_

 _"_ _EVASIVE MANOUVRES! BRING US ABOUT, MISTER SULU!"_ Scotty's yell could be heard into the halls of the bridge.

Sulu rapidly complied, fighting to avoid and duck under volley after volley of Gorn assault fire. "Trying as hard as I can! I can't avoid everything, there are too many ships firing on our position. We have to get out of the middle of the fleet, or we're going down!"

Everyone on the bridge was holding it together, fighting off tiredness and stress with determination and will power. Working like crazy at unprecedented speeds, the technicians diverted power back and forth between systems to compensate for loses and protect against overloads. The metal plating on the outside groaned and creaked, but held taut under heavy fire that did not deflect off the shields. Multiple hits avoided the highly packed areas, only distorting gravity temporarily as crewmen pitched to the wall. Thankfully, due to expert flying by Sulu, the majority of the Gorn's firepowermissed main engineering and the two nacelles that propelled the ship out of the way. In the rapid depletion of energy reserves, Uhura exerted herselfworking with officers around her, trying desperately to maintain the only comm link between the ship and their two officers fighting for their lives on the other ships.

The helmsman and navigator had it worst of all. With management of propulsion, tactical and shields already in their hands, they barely had a chance to fire back. Manipulating the controls and reworking around damaged circuits, the helmsman felt the sweat on his brow but never took his eyes of the screen for a moment.

"Keptin, can we get more juice?" Chekov asked, frantically watching depleting auxiliary power straining under the weight of the Gorn assault. Readouts began flashing red, and the klaxon blaring became as normal as the regular sound of bridge chatter and cadence.

"I'll try, Mister Chekov! I kinna guarantee it, though." Scott gripped the arms of his chair to avoid falling forward as another blast of fire grazed the ship, shaking it down to the core. "Engineering! Keenser, pull out all the stops. Take power from the warp drive if we have to! We haven't got any hull breaches yet, so let's keep it that way!"

"Captain, repairs are underway on decks 4, 6 and 11." An bridge officer shouted.

"We have to escape the immediate area long enough for the shields to regenerate!" Another quickly interjected.

Normal engineers would scream and run for their lives at the strain that was beginning to show. Bravely, the crew in the heart of the _Enterprise_ remained behind, fighting and winning against the wounded systems and semi-broken parts. She was the flagship of Starfleet's fleet itself, which may have been the reason it held on. Despite many overworked systems overheating, the efforts of the crew kept the ship running at maximum capacity. Damage was not bad enough to put the crew in danger, but _serious_ damage was imminent.

Sulu whipped his head from side to side, breathing hard but steadily. "Power influx! Multiple systems coming back online, and responding faster! Looks like Keenser gave us an extra kick." The _Enterprise_ steered hard and quickly resumed course back head on at the Gorn fighters. "Weapons ready and hot. Firing now!"

Blinking rapidly, Uhura tapped her console and held the earpiece in her ear. "I can't get Commander Spock or Captain Kirk. They've gone into some kind of static field!"

Scotty was encouraged by one and discouraged by the other. "Get them back fast! We've got to have those weapons disabled. _Now!_ "

 **...**

 _Stardate 2259.33_

 _Gorn Mothership – Bio Enhancement Facility_

Growing up in Iowa, Kirk was an adventurous kid. He was alwaysthe kind of guy that liked to jump without looking, take risks without thinking too hard. It was in his nature, part of who he was. It was these qualities that Pike said Starfleet needed more of. The sort of person that he believed in and trusted in.

Kirk would be forever grateful to him for that. But now that the brash young Captain had to take an _actual_ leap towards a giant moving cylindrical core element over electrified water over fifty feet below, he was apprehensive and not afraid to admit as much. Even if he didn't land in the conductive water or get zapped by the charges that arced through the air, the fall itself onto the unforgiving metal floor would certainly kill him. Of course, it was only natural that the Gorn should have a ship that had the potential to kill you in half a dozen gruesome ways no matter which room you entered.

"Ready, Spock?" Kirk feigned bravado and chuckled nervously. Spock was not in the least fooled, but chose not to make that known to his superior.

"I am." The Vulcan nodded.

"Let's go." Kirk replied, almost telling himself more than his companion. With a giant burst, he ran under the rising door and threw himself hard against the first tube, slamming against the side like a bug on a windshield. Hands firmly attached to the edges, he reminded himself of an earlier and similar experience he'd had on New Vulcan. There were twelve cylinders in all, each in rows of three and connected haphazardly with crisscrossing wires at their bases beneath the lapping water. The cores rose and almost made contact with corresponding cylinders in the ceiling. Where they met, the two components tapered off into plugs that transmitted brilliant beams of energy, forcing Kirk to shield his eyes.

Each jump was a struggle, and resulted in slamming his aching ribs into the hard sides of the tube. Spock watched intently with every great leap Kirk made, taking relief in seeing his Captain had surmounted the gap. When a core was about to lower, red lights flashed and a klaxon let out three bursts before energy disengaged and the cylinders separated.

With a final jump, Kirk pulled himself up onto the other hallway. He almost felt sorry for whatever Gorn engineer had to do that everyday. With the loud static noises fading behind him, he focused on feeling solid ground under his feet.

"Spock, I'm on the other side. What now?"

 _"_ _The control panel will allow us to reroute the power."_

Kirk moved his fingers around his tricorder screen, changing the command codes on the transporter pad. Moments later, Spock materialized in a flash of yellow light. Up a ladder hastily and silently, they got up to an access door and pried it open, leaving the engine room behind them for the dark, foreboding hall ahead.

Spock peered through a window into an equally dark room. His gaze swerved around from Kirk to his scans and then into the room. "Fascinating."

Kirk grimaced, expecting another disturbing development. "I hate it when you say that."

Unmoving, the Vulcan looked at both the elliptical tanks contained with glass and web-like metal. Rows of endless green and yellow tanks lined the wall. The blue-lit short computer table sat idly giving readoutson each one. "It appears these chambers were not manufactured for stasis." He gazed at the varying biological and DNA readouts, most of which his tricorder did not recognize. "They appear to be bio-enhancement tanks."

Kirk looked shocked and mortified at the same time. " _Enhancement?_ You hear this Bones?"

McCoy did hear him, quite clearly. He felt like gagging, but really did not expect any less at that point. _"Sounds like damn genetic engineering to me."_

"Indeed, Doctor. This may account for how the Gorn have been able to biologically enhance their species."

 _"_ _Those tanks appear like they're for incubation."_

 _"_ _Right."_ Scott interjected. _"Sort of like a genetic...cocktail, taking the best qualities, the strongest traits from the races they conquer. And adding them to the Gorn, thus enhancing the Gorn at the genetic level! Darn creepy if ye ask me."_

Kirk had seen enough. The readout on the wall displayed a massive schematic of overlapping ship levels. In the confusing mixture of lines and corridors, he couldn't possibly determine where they only option was to follow the hallway until the next room.

Now Kirk was really lost. Spock did not seem to be any more oriented with his surroundings. It looked as though they had carved a cave out of the rocks on some planet and transplanted it here, with minor adjustments. Various arches supported the walls and ceiling. An upper level along the edges of the walls circulated the periphery of the room, bridged twice by thick walkways. Small rooms were located at their far left and rightof each one and on the platform Kirk stood on.

It was just _so_ wide and extended so _far_ back. The only points of curiosity were the giant two pronged claw that moved along a track attached to the ceiling, scanning each one of the many shuttle-sized pods lined up in a rack on the charcoal wall. The others werethe two square platforms surrounded by murky brown water.

Kirk's jaw dropped. "This place is massive, we'll never find the Helios device at this rate." _Give me another encrypted door to unlock any day._ His eyes lit up. " _Unless_..." A grin split his features. "Hacking their systems might give us more info." He shook one finger in the air, turning slowly. "We just need to find a console with access to the secure systems."

Spock strained his eyes to look out over the expanse. "Captain, that console. We can manipulate it into giving us the necessary information."

Kirk leaned to look in the water that calmly rippled against the edge of the platform. "Is it safe to swim across?"

"No. My readings indicate that there are several examples of both toxic and Gorn waste. Prolonged exposure would result in severe –"

"– Alright, alright, alright, sorry I asked!" Kirk looked to his right, eyeing a computer installation. To his surprise, a basic Gorn access code input by his tricorder triggered a bridge to extend outwards, creating a safe passage across to the other side. Kirk felt better that way, since he was already really tired of swimming.

The platform on the other side stopped abruptly, leaving a meter and a half wide gap between them and the next platform, and a computer console that just might have an answer to finding the device. A look of exasperation was met with an eyebrow raise. After resigning himself to the inevitable, Kirk carefully dove in, trying to keep his head above water the whole time. Still thinking about Spock's summary of the water's contents, he wished he'd kept his helmet on as he pulled himself back up in front of the access console. Immediately he found himself unable to steady himself, stumbling on shaky legs.

"Spock! What's going on?" Kirk asked did not fare much better, wrapping two arms around his stomach and groaning before gingerly returning to an upright stance.

"I...do not understand...the water...must be extremelytoxic. I will be alright momentarily." Gradually his strength and Kirk's returned. When he could stand without putting his hands out, Kirk began rapidly manipulating the Gorn's security console, searching through images flying by his vision n search of what he wanted. Deck by deck Spock eliminated places that logically would not or could not hold the device. Finally, a significant image appeared. Though it was foreign in every design and configuration aspect, the Captain could tell he had found a source of energy rapidly being outputted into open space.

"Found it." He nodded curtly, then looked at his first. "It looks like all of their weapons are controlled on some sort of... _targetingplatform_ on the other side of the ship."

A large form materialized before them. Both men could only watch curiously as a tall, dark coloured Gorn took shape. Spock estimated it at a little bit greater than nine feet. The gun it had to hold in both muscular clawed hands wasn't much smaller. Bellowing loudly, the monstrous reptile defied them to take it on, proceeding to blast a yellow-tinged supply crate. The tight beam disintegrated most of the object in seconds.

 _"_ _Look out!"_ Kirk dropped like a rock as the giant's laser beam shot over the space his torso used to occupy. Taking turns, the two men pumped gunfire at the Gorn mercilessly, but it didn't seem to have any effect on the roaring beast. Kirk wasn't sure if it was his hand phaser or Spock's that did the trick, but within moments the creature's large muscular form collapsed as its usual low, guttural voice shot up the scale and resulted in a high pitched squeal.

Kirk holstered his phaser and strode forward, scanning the Gorn body quickly. "We gotta get to that targeting platform."

"Do you have a plan, Captain?" While Spock admired the Captain's inescapable courage and confidence, he occasionally wondered if it would ever run out. There was only so much one could endure before the pressure became too great. Yet Kirk seemed to surprise him at every turn.

Kirk jabbed a thumb towards the large containers. "If we hide in those tanks, and hijack the Gorn transport, we should be able to get up there." He stared resolutely into the distance.

Spock studied his serious countenance. "I am proud of you, sir," he said, his voice rising in pitch.

Kirk's gaze shifted. He suppressed a smile. "For what?"

Spock crossed his arms. "Usually your plans involve mindlessly running into danger."

Kirk suddenly found it impossible to resist grinning. "Don't worry. We're still gonna do that." He clapped Spock on the shoulder before heading off in the direction of the transporter pad.

Spock frowned, watching him. Then again, some things appeared like they would never change. As he stepped onto the circular pad, he felt his body distort as his vision blurred. Seconds later, he materialized beside Kirk on the second level, running to follow him. Kirk already rounded the corner and was heading down a row of identical computer banks when he swerved behind one. Spock did the same, not quite seeing the reason why his Captain hid.

A Gorn initiate lingered at the corner between it and the bridge. Unlike his usual frontal assault tactic, Kirk opted to surprise his opponent, downing him in a hail of fire. The warrior on the bridge across to the other side suffered the same fate.

With the enemies clear, Kirk moved his attention back to the pods. "How do we get these to work?"

Spock shook his head. "I do not know. Perhaps Mister Scott can be of assistance." Bringing his comm to his mouth and moving his tricorder out in front of him, he spoke clearly and calmly into the pickup. "Mister Scott? I am sending you information from our tricorders. Please confirm."

Scott observed the images briefly, his eyes flipping back to the comm. _"Confirmed, sir."_ The voice came back sharply.

"If we're inside one of those tanks, how do we get those cranes to pick us up?" Kirk asked evenly.

 **...**

Through the slight static on the comms and the intense battle between officers and their controls happening all around him, Scott wasn't sure if the loud noises were getting to his ears. Leaning down slightly to the pickup on the command chair arm, his eyes focused forward on the main screen but squinted in confusion.

"Did you say you'll be going _inside_ the tanks?"

Spock answered. _"He did, Mister Scott."_

Another jostle from enemy fire rattled the ship. Scotty shot a look up to the ceiling as if expecting it to collapse. His teeth grit instinctively as he watched Sulu tirelessly pulled the _Enterprise_ out of one dangerous situation, only to launch a deadly attack on a group of smaller ships he divided out from the rest of the fleet.

"You know I'd love to help you, Captain, but we're a _wee_ bit busy fighting off the Gorn."

 **...**

Engaged in a fire fight, Kirk's frustration was enough to raise his voice above the screaming gun fire. _"Scotty!"_ Spock dropped the attacker quickly.

Acknowledging the Captain and first officer's equally tough predicament, the chief engineer apologized, readjusting his focus on the scans. He quickly swiped away several scans of Gorn metals and technology until he found the most recent one. "Sorry, Captain. Those tanks should send out a signal right when they're gonna be moved. You'll need to scan one that's about to be picked up, so I can match its signal for you."

That was a better answer from his chief. Kirk took off running for a transporter pad through the doorway. "Let's go."

Beaming down, Spock was as alert as ever. The two warriors waiting just outside gave them no choice. Utilizing two narrow crates as cover, each man took a target and eliminated it in quick from behind their hiding places, they headed for a row of pods.

Spock overtook the captain, pointing hurriedly at one particular pod. "Over here, Captain! This one!" Looking over his shoulder, he saw the claw moving toward them quickly, the two prongs passing back and forth over each pod before retracting and moving on to the next.

Kirk whipped out his tricorder and scanned the signal transmitter. "Interesting...Signal coming atcha, Scotty!"

 **...**

"Scan received, sir!" Scotty whirled in his chair and shot up, casting an urgent look to the communications officer as he hurried toward her. "Lieutenant?"

Uhura's hands raced across the computer panel, making an exact duplicate of the signal that was bounced into her computer bank. Scotty by her side manipulating wavelengths, both rapidly adjusted each until they overlaid on one another. The screen beeped and became green with confirmation.

Uhura's eyes widened. "Got it, sir!"

Scott took no time to check for sure whether or not his adjustments were exact. Evidently neither of them had time to take such precautions. "Sending it too ye now, sir!"

 **...**

Two glass doors slid open on the pod, and quickly the two Starfleet officers climbed into the recessed area. It was surprisingly comfortable for a Gorn transport vessel, or for that matter a Gorn anything, thought Kirk. With a slight adjustment, both men squeezed into the narrow cockpit. As Kirk broadcasted the newly crafted signal in all directions, Spock's attention focused on the claw-like crane progressing along its track.

Clear view became replaced by fogged, tinted yellow as the glass doors slid shut. In jerky, robotic movements the pneumatically powered crane whirred and hissed as it manoeuvred its finger-like projections underneath the pod, lifting it gently off of its rack and onto a large transport ship.

Once secured on the edge, the pod pocked into place. As the claw moved away to resume its previous actions over again, the transport ship they found themselves and their pod attached to fired its two jet engines, rumbling slowly into a deep blue-tinted cavity in the mothership itself, passing other identical transport vessels like it as it ascended out and upward to the higher levels.

Right toward the targeting platform's level that was currently focusing the Gorn mothership's weapons that were pummelling the _Enterprise_.

 _"_ _Sir! We dinna have much time!"_

Kirk frowned knowing that there was little he could do to help from the inside of a pod. He worried about what Scotty was going to have to say. "What's going on now?"

Scott regarded the main monitor, and then looked at the comm as if he could see his Captain's face if he tried hard enough. "I got some of that other stuff you sent me."

A groan. "Scotty, I'm sorry. My tricorder sent all of it automatically, I can't stop it."

Much to Spock and Kirk's surprise, Scott had nothing to complain about. Wordlessly they leaned toward the comm when no audio came back the other way. "Mister Scott?"

 _"_ _Sorry, Mister Spock. The bloody lizards are regrouping, and the ship is still in one piece. Have ye found the weapons systems yet?"_

With a look to his co-passenger, Kirk grasped the comm sitting in front of them and held it close. "Not yet, but we're getting there. Is that all there is to report, or do you have something else?"

Scott's response was almost immediate. _"Yes! I noticed among other things you found a nine-foot beasties in there!"_

Kirk smiled slightly exhaled. "You know me, Scotty. I'm love a good adventure."

 _"_ _Well, you shouldn't love this one. These giants are mean. For reference and for what they serve as from what I can tell, let's call them 'sentinels'. They have a highly advanced genetic structure, so that means that these ones, if doctor McCoy is right about genetic engineering, are the pinnacle of evolutionary mischief. My advice is to approach with caution."_ The engineer shook his head sharply. _"Nae, on second thought, don't approach at all; run away. The quicker the better!"_

Spock replied without expression even though anyone else would be at least nervous. "Do you have anything on the weaponry they possess?"

 _"_ _They...do have the tendency to vaporize biological material, which is weird since they_ are _biological material based."_ Another roll of alerts from fellow officers filled the background. _"The Gorn armada's coming around. I've got to go! Talk to you later!"_

"Good luck, Scotty. Remember, if it gets too dangerous, get her out of there!"

 **...**

 _Stardate 2259.33_

 _Gorn Mothership – Targeting Platform_

The ride after that exchange was one of few words. Both men inside the Gorn transport pod watched through the tinted glass to see the workings of the mothership's inside. The sight was amazing to behold indeed, if either could take their minds off the mission. The armoured, rattling transport ship shook underneath them as it made its way through the gaping hole within the mothership's, steering around or passing other identical ships taking several pods elsewhere. Though Spock was right in the fact that the Gorn would use all available options at their disposal, the passing craft and intricately moving ports and docks locking in and unlocking each one as they came and went gave Kirk a look at the pinnacle of the reptilian creatures' architecture.

As the transport locked into its moorings, another crane reached out and pulled the pod out, placing it inside a short, wide hallway along a wall with several other pods, all empty. When the robotic arm disengaged them, the two glass doors on the pod popped apart slid open with a loud hiss. Both officers ambled out and lowered themselves to the floor off the side. With a final look they watched the transport go off into the vastness of the mothership's core.

Determined and serious, Kirk and Spock laid eyes on the door meters ahead. The Captain removed the comm from his belt, holding it to his mouth as he continued his approach to the door. Sulu's voice spilled out. _"Captain, you there?"_

"Copy that." Kirk stopped just in front of the door, listening as Spock pulled up beside him.

 _"_ _Our shields are at thirty percent. We can't withstand this attack for much longer."_ The helmsman sounded remarkably calmer than someone who would normally be reporting what he was.

A look of realisation rushed across his face. If the shields were that low, it meant that most of the shots his ship tried to avoid were now making solid contact with the already compromised hull. "Dammit, we need to move _faster_." They broke a record for door hacking and opening, flying into the room.

Inside the massive cavern, Kirk instantly caught sight of its focal point, high up from where he was. A large yellow tinged orb resembling aneyeballmoving randomly like an eye would. Metal web-like framework covered the whole surface. The entire thing sat inside the palm of a large ebony structure resembling a hand, the fingers moving up and down in no structure as a whole was fed by five thickcables that radiated out from the bottom, feeding the machine with vital energy from junctures and connecting it to rest of the ship's systems.

"I think we're just found this ship's central computer." Kirk leaned forward to get a better look. "Looks like it's connected to the rest of the ship through those giant cables. If we take this thing out, we can give the _Enterprise_ a fighting chance." He paused. "Any ideas, Spock?"

Spock continued in the direction of the balcony, tricorder held out in front of his body. "If we override the consoles, we will be able to sever the connection." He turned towards Kirk. "By uploading redundant programming commands, we can cause it to loop backwards on itself and overheat, thereby destroying the circuitry, causing the cables to disconnect from their junctures. Without a connection, the central computer's protective shields will be unable to function."

Kirk was nodding as he listened. "Good, let's find those consoles and get to work."He snapped to attention as the familiar sound of a turret engaging caught his ear. "Take cover!" he yelled, running towards some crates and dropping just out of range behind them. Spock did the same, drawing his weapon.

"They are tracking us!" The turret's motion sensor didn't register their presence as the beams scanned the , Spock looked over his shoulder. "Captain, I believe we may be able to manoeuvre behind the turrets and disable them."

This was one of the many points where Kirk differed from his Vulcan first officer. Smiling, he offered the chief science officer a suppressed grin. " _Disablethem?_ Mister Spock, sometimes it's more fun just to shoot things." Spock would have protested further, but it was too late to do so. Kirk let loose a single blue beam without aiming, stunning the turret.

"Spock, let's move! We've got seconds before that thing wakes up and kills us!"

Rounding a corner, Kirk stunned a second turret and triggered a transporter, sending the two to a higher platform toward the first console. Behind the cover of yet another turret, the younger of the two men pulled the gun off his back and opened fire of a warrior, downing it within seconds.

"Activate the signal! I will cover you!" Spock shouted as he pumped an initiate beaming in. Kirk jabbed his tricorder with a finger quickly. The signal shot out into the console's system, overwhelming the circuitry. The circuit twisted and crackled, writhing and falling over the rail past the console.

"One down!" Kirk broke into a run, chasing Spock. The turret they left in the dust clipped them as they beamed meters up to the next level, slamming back first into a set of boxes. The Gorn ship's defences came into full attack. Drones appeared from the wall, making a slow steady course toward them. Though warrior and initiate type Gorn manning the next two consoles readied to fight off the vandals, Kirk and Spock did not take a moment to plan out their course of action. Everything was improvised on the spur of the moment, aiming and shooting down Gorn at both long distances and point blank.

Taking a brief moment where they weren't fighting for their lives, Kirk dropped to a knee and the signal to the next console. After watching the wire crack at the connection, his eyes caught slight movement on the computer orb. The shielding shifted slightly, but held. "Two down! It's working."

"Captain, look out!" With a shove, Spock moved his Captain out of the way and dispatched a Gorn attacker.

Kirk stumbled but remained standing. "Thanks." He couldn't say anything else, but his face expressed what would've been communicated.

With his gun emptied, Kirk snatched a ravager from a dead initiate and fired down at a Gorn tech on a lower deck. Spock fired with precision at one drone after the other, destroying each. The expression on his face was solid and emotionless, save a slight flicker of exhaustion that was wiped out by adrenaline.

Another signal, this time from the Vulcan's tricorder. With a snap, the cable disengaged and seared off the console's juncture. Kirk slid behind a box and peered at more Gorn beaming in. "Three cables down. I don't think they like us very much right now."

Spock aimed at an enforcer, logically picking out the strongest and most dangerous of the three enemy combatants. "I believe that sentiment is one held by the Gorn against everyone they encounter, and at all times."

When the last Gorn screeched and fell in a shower of energy, the Captain crouched on the rounded raised surface and transported down to a final platform with the fourth console. A quick signal burst from his tricorder sent the cable attached to it twisting and falling into darkness below. Before a turret responsible for protecting the vital instruments could lock onto him or Spock above, the two had already ran into cover.

Kirk felt excitement building in him. "That's four. Last one!" Completely ignoring the Gorn that beamed in just before them, the two Starfleet officers triggered a final transporter pad that rocketed there disassembled particles up high onto the main controls connecting to the middle cable. The protective fingers around the central computer orb. Outside the threatening confines of the mothership they fought through, the _Enterprise_ was fighting a battle they'd almost certainly lose. The never ending swarms of winged fighter vessels provided a diversion while the larger ships, led by the mothership, fired heavy, condensed beams at the primary hull, sometimes and more often making contact.

Spock and Kirk faced a similar swarm, only this one was composed of drones, of both the attack and exploding varieties. The reddish-yellow blinks of light became more and more visible as they got closer. A first attempt at hacking into the main controls resulted in both officers dropping into hiding, suffering burning sensations from drone lasers.

The exploding drones were simpler to defeat. At first their numbers appeared to lower, but eventually it seemed as though they were barely making a dent in the total. Kirk grew frustrated and anxious.

"Where are all these things coming from?" Kirk asked, raising his gun barrel.

"An attempt to ascertain that would waste precious time and place us both in a direct line of fire," Spock answered, picking one off as he did so, sending the pieces spiralling out of sight.

Kirk squinted, squeezing the trigger. His shot clipped the edge of the drone next to Spock's last target. "Right. Spock, how good is your aim?"

"My marksmanship is proficient. I believe you have been the beneficiary of my skill several times today." Spock pierced the center of Kirk's missed drone, blowing it up.

Kirk grit his teeth and blasted another one, wincing as its last fire zinged his shoulder. "I'm going to need your best, Spock. The _Enterprise_ needs our best right now. We're losing the fight." His lungs burned as he tried to control his breathing, knowing that every shot could be his last.

Destroying the drones only provided them precious moments to disable the main control console. Kirk was taken aback by how the vital and key components were left unguarded, but remained thankful. The Gorn displays on the readouts started to willed his eyes to see what he hoped was true. The inner working of the computer installation began whirring inside, though the sound was barely perceptible over the sound of gun fire and laser beams.

Resounding over all of the noise, the central glowing orb released an ascending groan. No more power flowed to the failing, collapsing protective fingers. Like a clenching fist, the fingers appeared almost forced open as the auxiliary backups fought to save the computer's safeguard. Spock's masterfully crafted hacking bug ripped apart the encryptions and burrowed into the other systems, wreaking havoc on a large scale around the whole ship.

Kirk's mind had no time to consider any of this. The orb was unprotected, and that was all that mattered. "It's exposed! Spock, open fire!" Drones hovered closer almost in range of firing on them.

Blue and Red hand phaser blasts set to the highest kill setting Starfleet permitted in standard officer's weapons hit the distant but enormous yellow orb full on. The resulting explosion from ignited plasma and energy shook the entire section of the ship. Flares of electricity and bio-energy shot out like fireworks as the central computing juncture spat out in all directions, wiping out the entire fleet of drones. Turrets that relied on the same power supply exploded. On all decks of the mothership, vital displays went dark and burst into flames. Systems either flickered, disengaged or failed completely, sending Gorn soldiers reeling back in desperation. The most intelligent Gorn on board raced to locate the enemy combatants on board, but the scanners barely held up. It was all they could do to keep the engines and life support from collapsing under a sudden stress the entire power supply was experiencing.

They had no computer. The ship had no mind, no regulation. Using the power of Starfleet's own technology, Kirk and Spock had just tipped the balance in favour of the powerful Starfleet vessel closing in outside.

 **...**

Every wild-eyed, stressed out face on the small command center of the _Enterprise_ watched with shock and jubilation at what was occurring outside. Scott's mouth hung open, unable to compute what he saw. Chekov silently tapped Sulu's shoulder, bringing the helmsman's gaze toward the main monitor.

The mothership had ceased firing on their ship. Instead, it struggled to maintain its position in the space around it. The once deadly accurate double-helixes of energy now burst out wildly and randomly, taking out fighter crafts left and right. The crowd of vessels attacking the _Enterprise_ suddenly became a lot smaller. After a few futile spurts of light, the lasers gave out.

Gaping at his readouts and monitors, Sulu could not believe what the scans told him. He tried scanning again, only received the same results. Chekov's instruments sounded as he reached the same conclusions.

He was beyond excited. "They weapons are down!" Pivoting in his chair, he looked toward the others on deck who were equally encouraged.

"Shields holding steady, and hull strength full. Weapons are weakened, but operational." An officer off to the side called out.

Scott was now feeling a surge of confidence. He didn't need any scans to confirm what he and evidently Uhura knew. They shared a glance before the acting Captain's attention was pulled back to his pickup by the clear voice of the man that should have been there.

 _"_ _Scotty! Status of the ship! What's happening out there?"_

 **...**

The helmsman responded as the chief engineer deferred to him with the wave of a hand. _"Captain, whatever you just did seems to have worked. The mothership's weapons have been disabled."_

Spock's muscles remained tensed, unsatisfied with the answer. "What about the rest of the Gorn armada?" He pictured some of the fighters he'd seen through the viewscreen earlier; while not completely autonomous, if desperate enough, a new lead ship could arise.

 _"_ _It won't be easy, but we may be able to get out of this alive."_

Finally they were making a noticeable difference. Kirk smiled broadly. "Great news, Mister Sulu."He detached to grenades from his belt and dropped it to the lower deck, eliminating the three remaining reptiles that fired on them relentlessly.

Spock saw this as a minor accomplishment. He could not understand Kirk's positive emotional response. "Captain, our celebration may be a little premature. We still need to proceed to the ship's core to complete our mission."T'Mar and the device were still yet to be found. Given the amount of interference that the device released, it may only be found via visual contact.

Kirk shook his head and sighed. "I _know_. But sometimes you gotta celebrate the _little_ victories, Spock."He tried to explain further, but then stopped himself. The Vulcan wouldn't be able to appreciate such things, but for once Kirk had to agree as well. _We_ have _saved the ship, but without T'Mar, the device..._ It was pointless. Everything they had done to this point was to capture them and stop future Gorn invasions. Clapping his first officer on the shoulder, he commenced striding over to the closest transporter pad. Spock followed, but not with a look of confusion. As much as Kirk's emotional and sometimes illogical human responses to outcomes perplexed him,Spock found his Captain's indomitable confidence, bravery and intelligence invaluable. So much so, in fact, that it was becoming increasingly more difficult to imagine having never known him.

Several quick transports later, a simple remote signal triggered this last, previously deactivated pad, dematerializing them and moving them up to a higher deck.

 **...**

 _Stardate 2259.33_

 _USS Enterprise – Bridge_

The complete shutdown of the mothership computer was the morale equivalent of jettisoning excess cargo. Almost instantly, tense muscles relaxed, headaches subsided, and previously lethargic crew members kicked into high gear. Orders flew back and forth on the comms like torpedoes; Uhura could barely keep up with the messages, and she suspected her fellow communications officers were having just as much difficulty. Scott had vacated the chair to dump whatever power they had left into the shields, leaving the Captain's chair vacant.

Crew members who had previously been off duty were supporting the shift teams on schedule. Even some of the injured were analyzing system data from their sickbeds, much to Doctor McCoy's chagrin. But he was hardly qualified to complain, being exhausted himself. If this were any other day, he'd have ordered himself to quarters for a rest hours ago.

At the helm, Sulu was focused and locked in. After the heavy beating the ship had taken, it was remarkable that it continued to function so well and so quickly. The tireless, frantic team of engineers and technicians charged with repairing the ship kept up their work at a pace beyond all expectations.

"New squadron of enemy fighters coming within range." Chekov began. "Phaser turrets charged and ready, and torpedo bays filled to the max." His glance flipped to the man on his side. "Sulu?"

The helmsman gaped at the main monitor. He was again caught off guard by what his eyes told him. Other crewman watched as the mostly empty star field filled with more winged Gorn ships. Hundreds, possibly thousands swarmed from behind larger vessels or dropped from smashed out of warp, moving in to engage the foreign craft. Breathless exchanges of fear and shock moved amongst the bridge crew.

Save one.

McCoy stood up and strode in front of the hallowed command seat without hesitation, regardingthe massive force with a look that usually was reserved for Spock. An unusual emotion rose in him he could not explain, but at the moment he did not care. Later he might be angry with the notion he was emulating the Vulcan commander.

Right now, he was angry at the reptilian beasts. "The Captain and Spock aren't getting off of that damn ship without us. If you wanted to leave, you already had your chance." Daring to probably break some regulation, he sat in the chair, back straight. "We've come too far to run now. Arm all phasers and torpedoes. Dead ahead, Sulu."

The helmsman steadied and nodded quickly, turning to his instruments to key in the command. Silence still droned throughout the bridge, accentuating the pinging noises from the computer stations. Rumbling replaced it as a million yellow beams spiralled in on the sleek grey hull.

Uhura pivoted in her chair. "Doctor – I mean, Captain? Power is still a bit sketchy, and the repairs are touch and go. Engineering has alerted all decks that we _might_ losegravity." Her lips parted, but withheld any further comments she might have made.

A few seconds later, McCoy responded as the seatbelts clicked across his chest. "In that case, it's a good thing we have these." All other officers followed suit, enabling the seat belts on their chairs as well. "Sulu, Chekov, status?"

"Computers can't determine how many of them there are." He grit his teeth and narrowed his brows. "Doesn't matter now, I suppose. Signals are cycling, probably to confuse us." Firm resolve hardened his features as he attempted to impart the same confidence he felt to the navigator. "Ready?"

Judging by the way Chekov's eyes darkened, there was no need for a response. His accent almost disappeared with the latent contempt he held for the Gorn."Weapons hot and primed to fire."

The engines began groaning and thrumming louder than anyone working with them would ever want to hear, but they did not give out. Kicking into full impulse the _Enterprise_ moved swiftly between Gorn fighters, flying into the first line of fire. As the winged vessels swooped, criss-crossed and darted past, the large Starfleet ship began decimating their numbers, slicing through each one successively without trouble.

Sulu worked faster than any of the other lightning quick crewmembers, locking and firing at pace with the phaser turrets recovery rate. Chekov deployed torpedoes tracking the heat signatures from several ships, destroying every a narrow arc and a swift uptake the _Enterprise_ veered hard above a large group, firing up, down and sideways into the shrinking swarm. Each shot was calculated and precise, and rapid. Another volley of crimson bursts from multiple turrets cut through the crowds.

As his eyes locked in on the mothership, Sulu almost became one with the instrumentation. Hands firmly on the controls, he glared hard at the next weak spot. _Time to take out those weapons._

 _"_ _Firing phasers!"_ he shouted, initiating the controls. A single penetrating beam shot out from the armament on the forward saucer section. Both he and Chekov were shocked when it harmlessly absorbed into the invisible orb surrounding the enemy vessel that hadn't been there moments ago. Neither couldunderstand they had the power to get it working so fast.

Sulu's eyes widened. _What the...how?_

" _Dammit!_ They've got deflector shields up!" McCoy watched intently. His left hand slid over his chair arm's pickup. "Engineering?"

Commotion and noise filled the comm response at first. After a string of commands and Scottish vernacular, the chief stumbled over and tapped the button in response. _"Here, bridge. We're holding on, but don't ask me how. I'm_ really _busy with keeping us from breaking up and maintaining enough power for all decks!"_

"Scotty, do you think we could arm the phaser banks any faster? A bit more power to them should make our job a lot easier."

Scott was a bit frustrated at that point. _"Where would I get_ morepower _for that?"_

"I don't know. I'm a doctor, not an engineer." A jolt to the bridge shook him, halting him temporarily. "We're fine for now, but if you could do it, it'd really help."

A sigh. Time was still moving as it always did, and with each passing second everyone on board and two who weren't had less. Scott wanted to do more, but with the confusion and anxious efforts going on around him, he could barely think about his task as it was without digging into the systems to see where he could divert energy from without hurting the already damaged ship. _And then I have to get back to that research data soon..._

 _Research bloody Gorn crystals!_ Scott took off away from his communicator. McCoy heard footsteps but no response. "Scotty?"

More footsteps, getting louder among the shouts and alarms. " _Sorry, McCoy. I've got an idea about that power ye needed! Give me two minutes, and we'll be blasting those beasties from the sky like they're skeet!"_

 **...**

 _Stardate 2259.33_

 _Gorn Mothership – Higher Decks_

"Mister Scott, have you further information that may help us proceed?"

 _"_ _Aye, sir, I do. Commander, it's the Gorn mothership. It's alive."_

Kirk made a face. "Scotty, are you messing with us?"

 _"_ _I wish I was, sir. Anyways, it's not just a ship. Like those weapons they've got, the organic component to them. That targeting platform was not just aiming their weapons, it was also a juncture for central ship's intelligence. The Gorn on the ship seem to be connected to it through a central...consciousness. The ship itself changes and adapts to alterations to its structure, and I suspect it can easily attack invaders, like a body's immune system attacks illness."_

Spock shared a look with Kirk. The Captain shrugged, curving up a corner of his mouth. "Fascinating. Listen, Scotty, what does that mean for us? How do we avoid it?"

 _"_ _I don't know. My only suggestion is to be on the lookout for waves of beastie coming at you."_

The thought of insurmountable crowds of Gorn soldiers made Kirk shiver. "Alright, will do. Spock, suggestions?"

"If we were to 'fight an immune system', than we should proceed to do what an illness does."

The younger man smiled. "Sabotage. I like it."

Just then, the ground rumbled beneath Kirk's feet, rocking him backwards slightly. He adjusted his stance, noticing the Vulcan was having an easier time of balancing than he was. The low whine of vibrating metal increased in volume and pitch, causing both officers to hold their hands over their ears. "Aghhh...what _is_ that?!" Kirk groaned, squinting his eyes.

"I am not certain, Captain, but I suspect our defensive actions are taking their toll on the ship's hull." Spock suggested, wincing. "It is rather grating."

"You're telling me! Maybe they just want to drive us mad!" Kirk shouted. He leaned his right ear into his shoulder, freeing that hand to pull out his tricorder. The instant he turned it on, static interference readings rocketed off the charts. "Whatever it is, I'm picking up some serious feedback from it..." He glanced at Spock and showed him the screen. "Ever seen anything like it?"

Spock examined the readings. "These levels are unprecedented." He frowned. "I have a strong suspicion the Helios device is responsible for what we are seeing."

After giving his first officer a look of dismay, Kirk consulted his tricorder once again, but clicked his communicator on in hopes of getting a second opinion. "Chekov, something's happening over here, what can you tell me?"

 **...**

Minutes ago, the fighter ships and missile launchers had been the primary focus. When the battle came to a lull and the ship's main monitor filled once again with the giant Gorn mothership, the helmsman and navigator could now turn their penetrating scanning instrumentation on the bronzed battleship facing them down.

Chekov did not like what he saw. "Keptin, we're reading a _massive_ energy build up on that ship."

 **...**

The deck Kirk and Spock were on was actually a periphery of the area, with the middle taken up by an open column. A blueish-green glow was only broken up by yellow crackling light at the bottom far below. Any unfortunates that fell over the railing would be falling a long time before they reached the bottom, where incineration would await them. When around the corner, an initiate activated a single console's commands that were still operational, the beam shot up through the broad vertical shaft and up beyond the point at which either officer could see.

 **...**

Scott, who had returned to the Captain's chair after having righted the ship in engineering, was convinced that this wasn't anything to be taken lightly. Tensed and focused, he regarded Uhura over his shoulder. "Lieutenant, any clue as to what's going on?"

The talented comms officer shook her head, her breath caught for a second. "No – there's too many ship to ship communiqués to isolate one immediately. Attempting to compensate."

Sulu's face looked as if he'd just seen death. "Sir, alert! The energy build-up we're talking about, it's a focusing beam. The energy seems to be targeting our nacelle."

"Get us out of here, helm!" Scott shouted. Just as the ship's engines complied with Sulu's commands, energy coalesced around a focal point in the Gorn mothership's broken artillery. A brilliant wide beam of light slipped underneath the _Enterprise_ 's circular hull section, missing contact completely and only buzzing the shields.

"They missed, sir." Sulu nodded, steadying the ship. "Hold on. The beam-" He was cut off by Chekov.

"Tracking it now!" He brought the main viewer to observe the view of the streaking beam. As if it hit a wall, the gold beam collided with space itself, releasing high amounts of energy and matter, rapidly distorting the fabric which all of space were made of. A radiant orb of light flashed, quickly replaced by a singularity, rotating and expanding like a hurricane. Finally, the bright center was surrounded by deep pink and purple streaks. Though smaller than the first, it was instantly known without the use of any computer confirmation.

"Keptin!" Chekov addressed his comm. _"They've opened a second rip!"_


	19. Chapter 19

_Chapter 17_

 _Stardate 2259.33_

 _Gorn Mothership_

"Captain, if we do not _destroy_ the Helios device, the Gorn will be able to use these rips to attack multiple targets in the universe without warning." Spock paused, allowing Kirk to take in what he said. "The outcome would be _catastrophic_."

Kirk adjusted his pillager's decreased ammunition load, grinning wryly. " _Then_ we better hurry up."

"Indeed, Captain."

Spock remotely accessed a console close by, only to discover the Helios device was the main component in the Gorn's one remaining fully functional the controls down had no effect. Kirk waited patiently as two Gorn crept closer and closer. At the right moment, he gave a final supportive stare across at Vulcan beside him and opened fire on everything with scales.

When the first two succumbed to their injuries, Kirk and Spock advanced, but only a meter before over half a dozen reinforcements beamed in and took cover behind anything that was around them. Out from the side and over the top of the box Kirk and Spock leaned and shot down one creature after another, picking off heads and torsos exposed from behind support pillars. As one ran in from beyond a corner, the first officer's barrage wiped it out mid step. Kirk emptied the last of his ammunition to finish a final holdout. The reptile mistakenly stuck its head out from behind the only thing shielding it.

Spock reached down and tossed another weapon to his Captain, acknowledging the man's discontented look at his current one. Catching it in one hand, the blonde haired man smirked. "Thanks."

In another shadow of a computer bank around the corner, Kirk awaited an enforcer approaching their location. Swiftly and lethally he jumped out, unleashing the full power of Gorn ravager technology into the creature's chest, killing it instantly. Spock came up hard behind him, his back almost against the Captain's as his gun became level with his chest. Like a single machine, the two officers stepped quickly toward the next transporter pad, eradicating Gorn warriors as they went.

Kirk shook his weapon as the clip caught. _Empty._ "Damn!" Angrily, he broke away from Spock to find another weapon, leaving the lone Vulcan to his own devices. Without faltering, he surgically shot down one and then another, leaving no time for either to fire.

Charging up quickly on his two o'clock, a beefy enforcer gripped its weapon tightly, a sneer curling its lips. Operating on instinct, Kirk dove towards a similar weapon that lay next to a previous kill, his fingers straining to grasp the handgrip. He brought it close to his body and flipped around, aiming it at his attacker. A few sharp blasts sent it staggering backwards in death. Kirk sat up from his prone position slowly, hands twitching from the recoil. "Whoa..." He quickly breathed in and out several times. "What...a...r-rush, eh, Spock? Ha."

The Vulcan turned his head, angling one eyebrow sharply upwards. "I am not sure an excess of adrenaline calls for celebration."

Kirk shot a look down at his weapon. "What did Scotty say these things do?"

"If I can correctly remember Mister Scott's words, he said they utilize 'semi-automatic spread shot and a knock down flash bang grenade.'" Spock answered, tilting his head slightly. "It is quite a large arsenal for a single rifle."

That was all that the Captain needed to hear. From what Kirk remembered from his tricorder readings, they would have to make use of several more transporter pads. Unlike those on the _Enterprise_ , you had to go from one to the next, without being able to go straight from point A to point B. Sort of like hopscotch. Idly, Kirk tried to remember if he had ever played the game. If he had, it was most likely just an excuse to hang around girls.

"How many more of these things are there?" He asked, reluctantly stepping down on the pad. Again, his mind wandered to the time that clicked by unceasingly. Every second the rip was getting closer, and they were still losing. From behind a wide stone support beam, Kirk eyed an enforcer stomping up the way, and a warrior intently working at a computer, likely monitoring Helios.

The next few seconds amazed Spock. Fearing he would hit the Captain as he moved hurriedly around, the first officer kept his sidearm up but did not pull the trigger. Kirk took out the closest Gorn, then wheeled and pumped the gun's ammunition gauge, releasing a grenade perfectly into the crowd of reinforcements that beamed in. Surprised and confused by what had happened, the reptilian beasts struggled to stand. Flipping back to primary fire, the Captain fought hard against the gun's recoil as he finished his attackers off. None could rise in time to avoid a point blank eruption of spread-shot projectiles, annihilating each. With a last gasp the strongest of the lot died.

Spock was already hacking a console to enable a bridge leading to a central platform, and in turn to the other side of the mammoth deck. "Well done, Captain."

Kirk did not even hint a smile in response, not the Spock expected any at this point. The younger man dropped his spent weapon and picked another from the cold, damp stone floor. Running across the extending metallic platform, Kirk clomped across, pumping his legs harder as the crossed rock and dirt. "If this thing goes through that second rip, we're never getting home! Move, move, move!"

Halting in his full sprint, the Captain stared up at the assembling form appearing in front of him. The nine-foot beast's glowing beam solidified, growling as the transportation was complete. Running to nearby grouping of energy batteries, the grunting, hard-breathing Gorn reached down to tug one out. _A brute_ , Kirk recalled. _Lucky I can still remember these. Didn't they throw things at us then, too?_

As the brute raised the power cell above its head, Kirk fired blindly, detonating it with a loud _BOOM!_ Particles rained down on the angry creature. It tossed its head to the side and growled. Kirk recognized the furious glare it gave him and tumbled sideways just as the creature charged him, sending a barrage of fire in its general direction. Kirk angled his head around its leg just as a burst of fire from Spock's weapon struck it square in the back. It spun around and turned its attention on the Vulcan, hesitating like an angry bull before launching itself towards him. Kirk rolled over and kneeled on one knee, replacing ravager with sidearm and firing. Right and left, forward and back the two men ran, shooting and evading. As the Gorn made another run at Kirk, he quickly somersaulted out of the way. Though rock-solid pillars and boxes disintegrated against muscular reptilian force, pure speed won out.

Cornered, Spock found nowhere to run except over the side of the platform, which was not an option. Though he doubted his success, he attempted a manoeuvre he had not ever done at Starfleet academy or on Vulcan. Turning his back to the charging Gorn, Spock ran hard and up the side of a pillar, flipping backwards over the Gorn landing on a knee and firing hard into the passing lizard.

Kirk grinned, but his face almost flipped back to seriousness as he delivered a fresh volley of fire. Stopping short of the edge, the Gorn turned around and went charging for more energy cells, as if a different result would come from the same idea. _Scott was right, this thing_ is _stupid._

Kirk and Spock shared a look and pointed Gorn weaponry square at the creature leaning over the cylindrical energy cells. At close range, the explosion did more damage than any phaser, pillager or ravager could do. Recoiling from the damaging force smashing its stomach and chest, heavy shooting only added to the already deadly force. The creature growled, stumbling backwards and waving its arms before tipping over the edge of the platform and descending rapidly down the endless column toward the ships bottom thousands of feet below. Stepping over to watch, Kirk eventually lost sight of the falling corpse. _Good riddance..._

At Spock's signalling, Kirk came up short of the opposite bridge and crouched beside him. A Gorn enforcer, trailed by two initiates and a warrior walked across the floor.

"Hot or cold?" Kirk asked, ready for both. Spock remotely triggered an echo off the flattened bridge's structure, inciting curiosity from the strongest, most armoured Gorn toward the sound.

Tracking each step with his gun, Kirk froze his ravager in place and let loose several shots. With a scream the enforcer flew off the side and careened into the abyss. The ensuing firefight with the remaining creatures was over in seconds. Then the Starfleet officers got up, bolted across and right.

As Spock's pulse continued to climb, reminding him that time was growing short. He frowned, wondering if they'd be able to complete their mission. They had about thirty minutes, possibly less if the Vulcan was off in his calculations.

 _We're gonna find her._ And odd expression crept onto his face as he considered his use of a human manipulation of 'going to.' It was not a phrase he'd have thought in terms of prior to knowing the captain. _I wonder if I am having more of an effect on him or vice versa._ A beam of light took him and the Captain off to the next deck.

"We're running out of time!" Kirk ran, this time faster than ever down the dirty, dark floors. Nothing stopped the speeding officers. Not the two rushers that were easily shot down, not the trio of warriors or the enforcer that met them with a hard resistance. Ignoring weapons fire and potential death, Kirk once again dropped his weapon, retrieving a pillager.

Shots came at the two. Kirk grimaced. "Why do these things run out so fast?"

Spock fired a quick burst and then shifted backwards. "Doctor McCoy made note that the energy that fuels these weapons is part biological in nature." A few shots barely skimmed Spock's shoulder, not wounding him. "In addition, Mister Scott pointed out that the Gorn utilize their own bio-energy to charge their weapons. Without that, the weapon's energy reserve is limited to what is inside it when you begin use." A final barrage from both men's pillagers eliminated the last few Gorn.

Kirk checked his rounded cumbersome pillager. It held four clips of fifty shots, each completely full. His sidearm would have to suffice one it ran out. Head tilting up, his eyes flashed around the room.

"Hurry, Spock. Where do we go?"

Spock's response was immediate. "That console, on the platform. Hacking into it should provide us an uplink to the transporter systems. Once I locate the device, I can transport us directly to its location." Clicking a console that wasn't protected, Spock input Gorn symbols and triggered the bridge to extend to the platform held out in the central column's middle.

Because the evidently important console was unguarded, Kirk approached with caution, weapon moving about empty space, searching for traps and lizards. Concrete awnings supported the massive rocky structure. Aside from the assortment of boxes, only the computer bank at the far end caught the eye.

As Kirk and Spock both expected, Gorn beamed in, a set of four of the strongest and best officers the ship had that weren't dead from encounters with breached hulls or the Human and Vulcan intruders. Two armed and armoured warriors went left, an armoured stocky enforcer moved forward without any care for the shots that would hit it, just as all the others of its kind had before it. Behind the triad stood a muscular, built-up nine foot Gorn growled gutturally and stomped forward.

 _Sentinel._ That was what Scotty called them. The weapon it held in its hands? _An arc driver._ Kirk didn't know how he remembered all Scott had told him, but passed it off to adrenaline that filled his bloodstream. From what he knew, the arc drivers could destroy everything in their path. Being dissolved was not on his itinerary.

"Get the smaller one's first!" Kirk shouted, crouching.

"Captain, it would be logical to disable the most threatening opponent first."

The Captain could detect the smoke grenade's scent as the user clomped in his direction. No time, no reason to argue. Spock was the only friend he had here, and now was not the time to discuss the merits of each method of attack. "Forget logic for once and just trust me!"

Spock silently complied. Then both turned and ran as the blackened crate in front of them smashed.

Nothing was good cover. Solid rock and metal objects that were feet thick fragmented. Though it took the Gorn sentineltime to move the humongous weapon's focused laser across the plateau, Kirk and Spock did all they could just to get shots off on the others while staying out of the way. Pillars and crates shattered and collapsed as the tight beams of energy from the largest Gorn eliminated hiding spots one by one. The smaller subordinates moved closer or flanked the Human and Vulcan, providing no alternatives from direct combat or fleeing.

Kirk's pillager recoiled repeatedly into his sore shoulder as he eliminated the only target in front of him. Any worries of death or injury were gone beneath levels of urgency that he had never felt before. The thought of getting home to his place in the command chair of the _Enterprise_ gave him an extra burst of energy, but even that was rapidly depleting. As his last shots finished his opponent, he turned hard, pointing the next attacker closing on Spock. Both Vulcan and Gorn were in a tight battle of which Spock was winning. A final burst cut down the muscular reptilian mass.

Spock's lungs fought to supply his muscles that kept moving. If he stopped for more than a few seconds, he'd be targeted and most likely vaporized before he could run to safety. At full pace he aimed the rifle over his shoulder. Another enemy fell.

Kirk's feet slammed against the ground as he brought himself to a stop. _Last one down. And now…_

And now they only had to fight the largest of the beasts. The sentinel towered over them, casting a shadow that extended backwards a good five feet. "Split up!" Kirk yelled, taking the beast's left side, Spock moving toward the right. They fired in unison, causing the creature to turn sharply several times in an attempt to dodge their weapons fire. A few well-placed shots later, it was injured heavily, but furious. As confused as it was, having combatants on either side of it, the peak of Gorn genetic engineering managed to return fire, skimming and chipping the ground before Spock's feet. Now was Kirk's chance to act.

Sprinting, he ripped a grenade pin out with his teeth and jammed the device into the creature's side, ducking out of the way of a fist and pulling back. The explosion tore a wound into the Gorn's side, but remarkably didn't down it. Muscles tight and aching, both men overwhelmed their severely bleeding opponent. Despite the pain it didn't recoil, refusing to bend or to take amoment away from the completion of its goal to kill the two intruders. It would never get the chance to finish. Kirk delivered the kill shot to the injured abdomen, and the sentinel went limp with a final cry.

Taking advantage of the lull in fighting to check his ammunition. "Think I'm running a little low after that last skirmish. You?"

Spock took in sharp breaths, his eyes scanning Kirk and then the mess of cables connecting to the console ahead. "We can collect more from the deceased. I will commence work on the controls." He had no interest in small talk. Hands flew at almost an imperceptible pace as the symbols fell into place on the small screen. He turned back once to signal Kirk, punching in the digits. Kirk helped briefly, inputting the last ten keys of the access code. Then they were gone, disassembling in a column yellow light.

Up to the heart of the giant mothership, where the highest security awaited them. Through the collective Gorn intelligence, they were already aware of Kirk and Spock's ascent. In seconds, they'd be ready to eliminate the threat to their ship.

 **...**

 _Stardate 2259.33_

 _USS Enterprise –Bridge_

From where Scott was sitting, all was going well.

Another volley of fire from the _Enterprise_ hit the hull plating of the largest enemy ship, taking large pieces off the failing ship. What was being done to his ship before was now being dished out by them. No defences were left to protect the Gorn vessels, allowing the overly powerful Starfleet phasers to carveinto the attack fleet that had started limping gradually toward the other they didn't disintegrate, the winged ships shed vital components and hull plating, filling out the growing field of debris. Rising and falling, the _Enterprise_ swiftly and gracefully moved around and between fighters, shooting in all directions. Pieces of one ship flew back and hit others, reducing them to rubble as well.

"All of the mothership's systems are disengaged, sir." Chekov's hands darted across the touch panel. "They are circling the drain. And that's putting it mildly."

Scott ran his tongue over his bottom teeth and shook his head. "I wouldna like to be the engineer on _their_ ships right about now."

"I'm getting reduced interference readings. The first rip, _our_ rip is closing steadily. We need to pull the Kirk and Spock out soon." Uhura added, eyes shifting between readouts. "Comm activity is dropping steadily."

McCoy smirked. "Probably because so many of them are wrecked, or getting the heck out of here."

"No match for our ship." Scott muttered. His jubilation was quickly stifled by the image on the main monitor. Small, almost imperceptible explosions not caused by the attack rocked the hull of the huge enemy ship. To any ensign, this would be a good sign. To an engineer, it was a terrible sign.

"Sulu, what's going on down there?" He jerked his head toward the narrowed end of the Gorn ship's hull. "That doesn't look to good."

The helmsman pursed his lips at the summary of the damage. "Not good at all. They're not just damaged, they're goners. All systems have failed, main power is draining out. Hull breach is imminent. Helios is the only thing keeping them alive. If the Captain or Spock remove the device from of its holdings, they'd have minutes at most before that whole ship collapses in on itself, or explodes."

Scott pivoted. "Uhura, get me them! Now! We've got to warn them of what's coming! McCoy, get down to sickbay and prep for three injured people, maybe more."

Both responded with "yes sir" in unison. Uhura's wasn't as certain. She shook her head, causing McCoy to stop in his tracks. "The Helios device is creating too much interference, I can't reach them!"

"Keptin, the ship is barely holding position. They have minutes, and the rip doesn't have much more time than _that._ We need to start trying to get a lock on them now!"

 **...**

 _Stardate 2259.33_

 _Gorn Mothership_

"We have found the device."

Spock strained his eyes trying to get a clear view of the familiar cubic object suspended above a plateau. After searching so long, fighting so hard against failing muscles and endless waves of Gorn, the device being so close was a welcome relief. Protected by guards _and_ a powerful force field from any intruders who might dare enter with the objective of acquiring it. He pressed his mouth closed. _They are not taking any chances_ this _time._

Oddly, none of the Gorn appeared aware that two strange very non-reptilian figures had materialized a distance translucent field that surrounded the device was fed by three arcing beams. Two connected to large conical stone formations to a larger buzzing field. A third came back from the large field, touching the Helios machine's protective barrier.

Behind that field up some stairs, T'Mar lay prone on a appeared catatonic, but it wasn't clear whether it was a meditative state or blood loss that induced it.

"What the hell are they doing to her?" Kirk regarded the downed Vulcan with awe.

Spock sounded as concerned as Kirk looked. "I believe the Gorn are somehow forcing her to operate the Helios device." It hadn't occurred to him back when they were captured that the Gorn had been probing T'Mar's mind. Now the device was easily operable and could be used to create all number of rips. He couldn't quite make it out, but she did not appear to be moving.

Kirk jogged down the steps, stepping harder than a normal run required. "We need to get her out of there."

Spock placed one hand on the side of an energy storage receptacle, crouching. "As long as the Helios device is operational, we will be unable to beam out."

"Then we've gotta take it out," Kirk muttered, mimicking his first officer's stance. He sidled further into the shadows as a Gorn passed by.

Spock peered over the edge of the receptacle. "We will need to overload those plasma transducers first."

"Sounds good," Kirk replied. His determination quickly gave way to confusion. "What's a plasma transducer?"

 _Sigh._ "Those pylons," he clarified, pointing at some tall structures in the distance.

Kirk shook his head. "Why didn't you just say that?"On a silent count of three he planned to run. Spock took off early, firing back and forth at attackers. Kirk could only sit back, stunned at his first officer mirroring the Captain's usual brashness.

"Hey Spock, that's not protocol!" Sprinting past Gorn, he tore for the first transducer behind his XO. Spock trailed after, weapon raised. It no longer mattered that the entire room simultaneously took notice of them. The Vulcan knew that the rumbling and shaking the mothership was experiencing weren't normal. The ship itself was collapsing, and the interference from the device wouldn't allow an escape until the last moment. _That_ would be too late for any of the three.

Startled observers ran from their controls, beaming in initiates already armed and ready. In moments, the air filled with gun fire and discharging energy pulses. The two imperilled men behind the first transducer's controls held their ground, firing left and right at oncoming and distant attackers.

" _Spock!_ " Kirk shouted as he emptied his phaser at two screeching Gorn soldiers below him. "Shut down the transducer!I'll hold them off!"

"The encryption will take time!" Spock answered back, holstering his phaser and crouching into an uncomfortable position and remotely linking up the system to his tricorder. Hard at work, he tried with all his might to focus on the readouts, eliminating the noise around him.

Kirk was submerged in it. His alertness level was breaching maximum, and his heart rate was no lower. Gorn fired from everywhere, never decreasing in number or vigour. With the device in danger, all stops were being pulled out to combat the threat.

Another succession of blasts took out two Gorn fixing on Spock. The Vulcan had no time to thank his Captain, but did look up at the transducer as he finished his work. With a gasp the beam feeding from the tall pylon cut out completely. Kirk took in sharp breaths before swiping a hand across his forehead to wipe away sweat. A second later he resumed firing, matching Spock shot for shot. Both sets of eyes moved toward the ceiling as bits of dust and rock rained down.

"This place is coming apart!" Kirk cried, smashing an initiate with the butt of his gun before kicking and shooting it. "We need to get to the other transducer. Cover me!" Before his first officer could respond,the Captain was halfway across the dirt floor skidded to a stop as a Gorn appeared in front of him with no warning. His first reaction was a yell, followed by a quick squeeze to the trigger of his weapon, hitting the creature square in the side of its head with a burst of fire. Up some steps, he found himself behind the cover of transducer console.

 _If nothing else, I'll come out of this as one of Starfleet's foremost experts on Gorn technology._ The screen before him was covered in the same reptilian script that had become so familiar to him in the past few hours. Scrolling through reams of meaningless symbols, he finally found the bottom of the screen and input a shutdown sequence.

A blast of energy narrowly missed Spock's right ear." His gaze never wavered from the enemy shooters ahead. Several Gorn fell as he moved to the Captain's side. The fire was coming fast and heavy in both directions. He delivered a clean shot through the neck of one, sending it flying. "Can you complete your task in a more expedient fashion?"

"If you're going to tell me to hurry up –"Kirk's eyes engaged the confirmation of shutdown. "-just say, 'hurry up'. And by the way, that's _really_ difficult to do when you can't even stand straight."He rolled forward and came to a stop, squatting close to the floor.

A low growl caused him to whip his head upwards just as a leering Gorn reached for its weapon. _Uh-oh._ Just as it pointed the barrel at Kirk's head, a shot from behind both of them cut the Gorn down. Kirk dropped backwards onto his rear end and rolled sideways, breathing heavily. Spock stood on a small raised stone, his gun still drawn. Letting out a relieved breath, he laughed once and wiped his face with one sleeve. "Love your work."

With a gasp and a groan, the last Gorn fell victim to a barrage from Kirk's side arm. It took a few seconds before he realized the second beam, and subsequently the third were gone. The sphere immediately disappeared.

Helios was unguarded.

"Captain! We can now disable the Helios device!"

Kirk had wanted to hear those words for what seemed like eternity. Chest brimming with confidence, he clasped his hand phaser and pointed in into the bright yellow flame suspending the device. "With pleasure!" Barrel moving side to side, he aimed until he was sure. He squeezed the trigger, one eye tightly shut, and fired shot after shot into the device's heart.

It contracted slowly with a low whine as he looked on. He and Spock shielded their faces with both arms as itexploded with a loud blast and a blinding flash of light. The whole room shook violently.

 **...**

On the bridge of the _Enterprise_ , all was tense. The command chair's previous occupant was now down in the transporter room. Sulu and Chekov worked anxiously to monitor the mothership's failing systems.

"Readings are clearing up rapidly, sir!" Chekov announced. "I think we might be able to achieve transporter lock now."

Scotty checked his screen, nodding. "Aye, that's what I'm seeing, too." Two icons blinked on the diagram. "Sulu, what's the condition of that hulk they're on?"

"Continuing to destabilize, sir." Glowing lights changed color and moved about the scan display, indicating weak spots. "She's going down hot and heavy. We haven't got long."

Scott consulted his transporter controls. _"Uhura, I've got a channel open, but can ye try strengthening it? Uhura?"_

As Scott's voice continued to call through the comm station, more and more crew turned toward the officer. An empty chair spun, its user already speeding off.

 **...**

The ceiling continued to pelt Kirk with debris. More and more, the energy storage transducers glowed and surged. Displays and lighting became brighter. The walls groaned with the increasing stress as automatic fail-safes fought to save the dying ship. As Spock surveyed the destroyed device's former location with his tricorder, Kirk glanced around the room, and then T'Mar. She still didn't move. It only made him think the worst. Perhaps she was alive and controlled, but her mind... _Is there anything left of the scientist, the leader we knew?_

His communicator rang. Snapping out of his confusion, he tapped the flip open device. " _Enterprise_?"

 _"_ _Sir, I don't know what you're doing over there, but I just got a solid transporter lock on the two of you!"_

Kirk winced as a large chunk missed him by inches. "Two?! We need you to beam T'Mar out as well." He blinked twice to clear his vision, looking at an equally confused and nervous Spock.

A few clicks sounded in the background, then a sigh. _"Would love to, but I kinna get a strong signal on her."_

 _Care to guess why?_ "It's that damn contraption they've got her wired to," he growled, clenching his fists at his sides. The Gorn had already stolen so much. He could not, _would_ not let them have her, too. Pushing himself up the slope, his legs burned. It felt like he was slogging through thick mud, erasing the distance between them an inch at a time.

Just as he reached the bottom of the steps, he was halted midstride by the sudden appearance of a single adversary. The Gorn commander stood there, an insurmountable wall of muscle and bone. The only obstacle left between them and T'Mar,

Their nemesis appeared just as surprised to see them as they were.

 ** _"_** ** _How did they get in here?"_** No response came. No one was left alive to answer him, and neither Starfleet officer knew what he was saying. Angry and frustrated beyond his limits, the commander stalked forward. Once again the inferior humanoids had managed to sneak past and destroy his defences. Once again they had laid waste to the best of Gorn technology. Too many times he had made the mistake of leaving others to handle the menaces. Glaring down with a snarl, he would almost forget the damage to his ship.

He would enjoy killing them. **_"I can take care of this scum!"_** Rearing back, he fired three balls of energy into the air, each flying high into through the air and slowly descending back down toward Spock and Kirk's position.

Spock raised his phaser and aimed for one of the projectiles. "Captain, I believe the energy shield surrounding T'Mar is connected to the Gorn leader." He pumped the trigger and one exploded, raining tiny harmless particles down on them.

Kirk tipped his chin upwards in the direction of their attacker. "So we've gotta take _him_ out to get to T'Mar?"The idea was not entirely unappealing.

Judging by the look on Spock's face, he had no qualms about the situation either."It appears so."

A curt nod."Fine by me."

Behind him, the Gorn materialized and fired more projectiles skyward. Kirk and Spock moved hard each way, getting into suitable positions as each one hit the ground they stood on previously, exploding on impact. Escaping alive with T'Mar would be impossible unless they destroyed whatever controlled the field around her on the Gorn commander. The chance they would succeed at all seemed bleak, but Kirk knew there was a way. There had to be.

 _What if I'm wrong?_ He shook his head, pumping the Gorn commander with the ravager's firepower. Spock applied the same force with the pillager he handled. There wasn't a hint of unsteadiness in their opponent, who met each shot with angry defiance to back down. His weapon was much more advanced in its power than both of theirs combined.

 _Damn arc driver again._ The penetrating beam could turn tear anything biological to pieces. Prolonged exposure to it meant death. It was good that the weapon, for all its might, was hard to aim.

Running and hiding became necessity. Every few moments, the Gorn would beam itself to another location, sometimes right behind them. Ammunition and time were running out quickly. In the midst of gun fire and smoke, Scott's voice came clear and raised over the comm.

 _"_ _Sir, you don't have much time. The energy fluctuations on that ship are off the charts! She could go at any moment!"_ If the frantic tone of the engineer's voice was any indication, they had two minutes, tops.

"We're doing our best, Scotty!" Kirk swore under his breath as the Gorn disappeared for the umpteenth time. _Would it be too much to ask for you to stay in one place?_ He fired one more shot at the empty air before ducking to the left as more fire shot over his shoulder. As he regained his balance, the Gorn commander turned his attention to Spock, blasting a shot that sent the Vulcan reeling.

" _Captain_!" Spock clutched the left side of his chest and then the side of his neck, crumpling into a heap. Fresh green blood oozed from between his splayed fingers. He shuddered as pain wracked his body, gritting his teeth. _There is no pain._ There was, but it didn't stop him from trying to will it away.

"Spock, hang on!" Kirk blasted one more half-hearted shot in the direction of the Gorn and scrambled across the floor, kicking up loose stones behind him. His heart pounded as he slowed up in front of his injured first officer. "H-here, here you go." He quickly fumbled for the hypo spray in his belt, stabbing it into the uninjured side of the Vulcan's neck.

"T-thank y-y-you Captain." Spock's voice shook with the ship.

"Are you good?"

Spock stood, firming his voice. "Yes. I am alright now." His determination blocked out any residual discomfort from his injuries.

A hand landed on the first officer's shoulder. Kirk stared intently. "Right. We've got minutes at most, maybe less."

"Quickly, the field generator on the Gorn leader is failing." Kirk watched him a second longer before taking off in the opposite direction. Switching between hand phaser and rifle, Kirk got closer and closer as he let loose on the Gorn. The returning fire skimmed over the stone structure that formerly housed the Helios device, missing the hiding Captain by inches. Hot air and energy discharges burned his nose and choked his dry throat. Coughing aggravated his chest pain.

The walls shook. Somewhere in the depths of the ship, explosions began tearing apart the lower decks and all the crew that remained onboard. Running harder and firing everything, Kirk was a man on a mission.

Spock ran quickly from an overloading transducer. As his Captain limped to cover following a barrage to his legs, the Vulcan man locked eyes with the ten foot commander stalking toward him.

Kirk clutched his ankle behind a set of rocky steps. Now his whole body hurt, and it would only get worse. He had to fight, had to stop the Gorn, had to get T'Mar and Spock back to his ship. Even if he couldn't make it, maybe he could buy time for Spock to get her. On shaky legs he stood and ran back into the battle zone.

 _"_ _I don't know how much longer you two have over there!"_ Scott waited tentatively, breath held as he glanced back and forth between the instrumentationUhura. Her teeth clenched as her eyestried to will the transporters to get a lock on all three and just whisk them to safety. The diagram of the Gorn mothership was almost completely red, as was the small comm screen displaying Sulu's face on the bridge.

Spock did not appreciate the distraction, nor the reminder of his possible imminent demise. "We are aware of that, Mister Scott."

More shooting, more running. Even the Gorn leader was showing signs of exhaustion. What he possessed in the way of strength, he lacked in stamina, unlike his swifter, smaller underlings. For a moment they locked eyes, each taking the measure of his opponent. _Don't bother trying to intimidate me; I can last as long as you can. Maybe longer._

Kirk's gun clicked. _No more energy._ His hand phaser would have to do. Seconds later, another urgent warning was barely audible to both men.

 _"_ _She's gonna blow any moment, sir!"_

"Heard you!" Kirk yelled back, trying to make himself heard above the rising noise of phaser and repeater fire hitting the Gorn target ahead over and over. The commander retaliated relentlessly, but could no longer maintain the field surrounding T'Mar. His thick hide and inextinguishable endurance gradually was giving way to the heavy fire power and grenade blasts at and around him. Focusing what he had left, he got off one final blow from his weapon before recoiling and moving forward.

 **...**

The entire mothership icon was red. Alerts screamed at the _Enterprise_ crew, urging them to move the ship to a safe range. The Gorn vessel was in its dying moments. At the helm, Sulu moved to pull back the Starfleet ship from the blast zone, but hesitated. They still had officers on there. Everyone on duty around him watched the main viewer, feeling powerless to do anything.

 _"_ _Hey!"_ Sulu said, looking panicked at the chief engineer and communications officer. _"We're out of time!"_

Uhura leaned toward the comm pickup linked to the mothership. Her face was lined with worry and glistened with sweat. "SPOCK! KIRK! You've got to go _now_!"

Scott couldn't wait any longer. The ship was fragmenting, and it would be moments before the higher levels became affected. Images of his two commanding officers being helplessly sucked out into the vacuum of space assaulted his mind. He shut his eyes tightly, willing the horrifying visions away. They would make it out alive. They always did. _But it'll take a bloomin' miracle..._

"You're out of time! I need to beam you two out of there right now!"

 **...**

Both men stood still for a few seconds. Spock turned a menacing gaze on the commander before meeting Kirk's eyes. "Captain, you get T'Mar. I will take care of their leader."

"Are you sure?" Kirk asked, holstering his phaser.

"Yes." Spock glanced at his wounded compatriot, his gaze softening for a moment."As I believe you would say, I have a score to settle." His hand tightened around an object attached to his belt.

"Then get to it!" The Captain clapped him on the shoulder, taking off toward T'Mar.

 **...**

Kirk's legs hurt, but adrenaline kept him going. Each step was not quite oriented. _Gotta get to T' get back to the ship._

A large quake rippled through the floor, knocking him off balance. Pitching forward, he stumbled and fell to the dirt. His body begged him to stay down, to give in to exhaustion, grief, pain. The huge chunk of rock that fell beside him snapped the Captain back to attention. Adrenaline kept him going strong, but was doing a number on his tired body. Shaking off exhaustion and pain, he pushed off the floor and to his feet.

One by one, they staggered ahead of each other, closing the gap between him and the female Vulcan.

 **...**

The anger, pain and determination underneath Spock's Vulcan exterior would have made a human cry or yell or curse at the evil reptilian giant standing before them. Spock glared with determination, with seething rage that could only be quelled by what he was about to do.

In his hand, Spock clutched an oversized hypo spray filled with a modified version of the Gorn antivirus. For a creature as altered as the leader was, it wouldn't be long before the effects neutralized him. After what this Gorn had done, after the atrocities he'd ordered, after all the pain and suffering he'd caused for so many people, Spock was bent on ending this once and for all.

 _It cannot come too soon for me._ The Vulcan broke into a run.

Furious and confused, the Gorn commander threw his spent weapon to the ground. Even with the angry Vulcan approaching him, he was bewildered with the sounds of snapping metal and screaming bursts of energy from all around him. **_"What is happening?"_** How could scum be beating him?

Spock ran at the Gorn, sliding under the grasp of two meaty hands and between its legs, bounding to his feet behind the creature. He scaled the spiny prominences jutting slightly out from its back, climbing up onto its shoulders. One arm was wrapped around the wide neck of the Gorn, while the other fought against the struggling creature's movements. With a downward thrust, the pink contents of the hypo slammed into the wound on the leader's neck. The Gorn screamed and grabbed the injection site, giving Spock time to leap off to the floor.

The confused Gorn bent over, roaring and growling. Inside its scaly body, the drug began taking effect.

 **...**

Sprinting up the stairs, Kirk could only gasp. As he came up beside the slanted platform, he noticed movement from the injured, wounded Vulcan woman.

"T'Mar?" His words escaped his lips softly. Slowly, her headturned to him. Her lips parted but no words came out. Sliding his arms under her, he lifted her off the slab and held her close to him. Her cheek and one hand pressed against his chest, Lifting the arm supporting her head, he yelled into the pickup.

"Scotty, get ready to beam us out on my mark."

 _"_ _Captain, I have a lock on all three of you!"_ Scott sounded excited and worried and agitated at the same time.

Kirk felt the form in his arms quiver. His legs were almost ready to give. Nothing sounded better than the thought of escaping this mess and getting the _Enterprise_ back home.

"Do it now!" As he said it, a guttural scream caused him to turn around. He could not see what had happened to Spock before light blinded him.

 **...**

Upright, the Gorn balled its fists together, back arched and head back. Yellow streaks stretched across the muscular body, widening gradually. A loud roar escaped the creature's throat as it threw its head back in anger, screaming at the ceiling high above in defiance at its own end. Expanding like a balloon, the mighty Gorn commander contorted and exploded into pieces, spraying in all directions.

Spock did not look away. His eyes locked on the commander's until the last moment, with unwavering determination. Only his head moved slightly away to avoid the force and the splatter from the attacker's demise. It was finished. The commander in charge of the assault of New Vulcan and countless other worlds had faced his own justice.

The Gorn was defeated, and so was his massive ship. As the walls began to give way to the surging outward force of the overloadedship's power supplies and the vacuum of space, Spock felt his body tug and give way to a brilliant light.

 **...**

On the bridge, everyone heard the audio exchange and the sounds, but none were decipherable enough to get a clear picture of what was going on. All they knew was that the Gorn mothership was going up in flames. Worry filled the eyes of the watching crew as they waited for confirmation. Not so much as a breath broke the silence.

Explosions shattered the hull, cascading up its long body before shattering in a cataclysmic blast that sent debris flying in all directions. Shockwaves radiated from its center in a dazzlingly bright light.

Tapping the input on the captain's chair, Sulu asked the question that was on everyone's mind.

"Transporter room, do you have the Captain and Mister Spock?"

 **...**

Transporter bay was quiet. Seemingly eternal seconds passed, revealing not the slightest sign that any particulate matter was materializing on the pads. Uhura could not think, could not breath, and could not speak at the thought of what that meant. Either they lost the signals, or what would beam back wouldn't be alive. Scott carefully moved the dials up, trying to bring up what he hoped was the signals he was looking for. With the large amount of radiation released the moment the mothership exploded, doubt had no trouble creeping into the back of his mind. Try as he might, he could not push it away.

Suddenly, through the protective glass a flash of swirling light appeared on the lit up two transport pads. Scott and Uhura looked up from the transporter's instrumentation readouts at the solidifying figures, one considerably more bulky than the other. Uhura's wet eyes focused on the lone one on the right. As the light faded, the man stood, head down. Looking up, he appeared relieved and shocked that he had even made it back safely.

 _I am alright, as are Jim and T'Mar._ His eyes focused on the woman coming toward him. _Nyota..._

 _Spock._ Throat tightened, she felt her composure giving way to relief as she strode quickly up the steps of the pad. A shaky breath left her mouth as she surrounded Spock's neck with her arms. A second later the man's arms encircled her waist. Neither wanted to let go.

The feeling of warmth and contentment returned to Spock's face. Pulling back, his eyes met Uhura's. The look they shared conveyed so much emotion, so much love.

To the left, Kirk sighed and gladly inhaled the clean air of the ship's corridors. Upon catching sight of the romantic interlude happening nearby, he glanced upward, rolling his eyes. _I'll never understand how that works._ He looked down at the woman in his arms who watched him with the closest thing to gratitude that she could express. A weak smile curved the corners of her lips. Kirk responded with one of his own.

 _Then again..._

"Captain, looks like there's a whole other fleet of bad guys coming right through that second rip." Scott's fatigue showed; his usually expressive hand gestures were more subdued than normal. His heads-up device was perched on the bridge of his nose.

Kirk shook his head with disgust. "Don't they ever give up?" He asked rhetorically, setting T'Mar down on her feet. One step later she stumbled, leaning on Kirk's shoulder. "Status of our engines."

All eyes turned to Scotty, including Uhura's, who briefly wondered what the strange ooze covering Spock and now her somewhat.

Scott frowned. "They're barely holding on..." he began, searching his readouts for information, "but they _should_ be able to get us out of here." He said the word "should" with hesitation, as if he didn't want to sound too certain. After everything they'd seen today, more surprises wouldn't surprise anyone.

"Good work, Mister Scott. Sulu, full impulse, get us through that rip!" Kirk tried to hide the tremor in his voice, but nobody seemed to notice. They were far too busy carrying his orders out, finally relieved to be homebound.

"Mr. Chekov, keep an eye on those ships," Kirk continued. "We don't want anybody following us home."

 _"_ _Aye sir."_

The sound of footsteps coming closer made the three transportees look up. "Out of my way! Coming through! Move it!" Leonard McCoy skidded to a stop outside the door, a medical tricorder in one hand and a kit in the other. His eyes widened as he took in each of them one at a time. "Jim!"

Kirk grinned. "Bones!"

McCoy frowned, taking two steps into the room. He stopped briefly by the transporter console. "It's safe to go back there, right?"

Scott pointed a finger in the direction of the pad without looking up from his work. McCoy needed no further encouragement. In three quick strides, he was on the pad, gaze darting between the three of them. He switched on his tricorder and attempted to scan all of them at the same time.

"Won't that confuse the readings?" Kirk asked. "Here, I'll make it easy on you. Two instead of three." In a flash, he strode out of the room. Spock followed silently behind Uhura, leaving McCoy to support T'Mar alone.

Moving as quickly as they could behind the fleeing officers, T'Mar and McCoy struggled to keep balance. A team of medical technicians had not arrived yet, and would be surprised to find no one to care for when they got there.

"Jim!" McCoy said, catching his breath. "Will you hold on a second? I need to get you guys checked out. Your electrolytes are through the floor, you're gonna crash!"

As he entered the turbolift first, Kirk knew they had no time. No one did. "Bones, I'm going to the bridge! If we can't get back through that rip, it won't matter!" he cried in desperation.

Once they got packed into the lift, Spock commanded it to take them to the bridge. In seconds, the doors slid open, allowing for everyone to pour onto the deck. Kirk stumbled over to his chair and sat down.

"Sulu, maximum warp! Chekov, how long do we have until the rip closes."

Chekov did not wait for anything else, wheeling in his chair. "My estimations must have been incorrect! The rip is closing right now! We have maybe a minute at most!"

Spock came up to him and leaned over his shoulder. "Mister Chekov, you were correct in your initial calculations. The Helios device appears to not only have opened the rip, but maintained its integrity as well. Now that it is destroyed, the rip cannot stay open."

The joy everyone felt at Kirk and Spock's return was diminished. No one wanted to be stuck out here. No one wanted to be captured by the Gorn, after all they did to fight this far.

"Brace for impact. Lieutenant Uhura, alert all decks, tell them to buckle down. Initiate red alert, shields at maximum." Kirk barked, gripping his chair arms tightly. McCoy strapped T'Mar into a chair nearby, then did so for himself.

Sulu fought furiously to level the ship. "She's steady and holding, but I don't know if we'll make it."

"We'll make it." Kirk replied sharply, his eyes focusing on the pink vortex on the main monitor. Scott fought his own battle in his mind, wondering whether or not to run to engineering. If there was a problem, he wouldn't have time to make it down there in time to do anything. Nothing could make him tear his face away from the screen. Like everyone else, he watched intently, silently begging the _Enterprise_ to hold.

All over the ship, crewmen and women waited nervously, listening to the sound of the hull and warp core straining against the pressure of the rip. The noise was one they'd never heard before from their vessel, one that usually meant it was time to board the evacuation shuttles. In engineering, the battered warp engines threatened to give way, but despite the extreme stress they were under, they held. The technicians worked heatedly to rework circuits, realign power and alleviate pull on the vital instrumentation that kept them interfaced with the _Enterprise_ 's primary systems. Each person on duty worked with precision and speed as they struggled with the never-ending waves of damage reports coming in.

On the bridge, it wasn't much crackled in the air as bridge crew members struggled tomonitor the systems they were responsible for. Displays blinked and warning lights flickered on and off, illuminating their faces.

The _Enterprise_ careened through the tightening hole as fast as the warp bubble would allow it to travel through subspace. Just behind it, the bright walls of the rip slammed shut, compressing everything that followed in the ship's wake into unimaginably small pieces.

"Pressure's increasing by a factor of 0.34." cried an officer to Kirk's left.

"I can't get a reading. Systems malfunctioning!"

Nothing could take Kirk's eyes off of the screen, where everyone watched or glanced over to. Between the flashing red alert siren and the cerise glare from outside, the bridge was awash in colour. Red alert klaxons and groaning from the ship's superstructure almost drowned out any communications between crew members.

"Hold on! We're almost through!" Sulu shouted harshly.

"It is gaining on us, Keptin!" Chekov shouted. He could almost feel his heart thrumming out of his chest. If Spock was nervous, Kirk was downright scared. McCoy was hysterical. His body shook as sweat streaked down his face. With two hands gripping the rail, he addressed the Captain who maintained his composure despite the increasing volume of the ship's strain.

"We're gonna die, Jim. We're gonna be smashed to bits by this damn rip!"

Kirk bit his lip, resisting the urge to snap back at his doctor. Right now, he actually was inclined to agree.

"Captain, hull pressure is at maximum. Hull breach is imminent." Spock said rapidly but coolly. His eyes moved across the screen, not pleased at the sight of the multiple final warnings.

Scott was leaned over a console, intently watching the warp core's rising temperature. "She kinna hold on any longer, Captain! It's too much stress!"

"We're almost there! I'm detecting something on short range scanners!" Sulu snapped around in his chair. "Captain, it's right on our tail!"

"Several sections are becoming superheated. Fires reported on multiple decks, but extinguishers are inoperable." Uhura's voice shook. "Collapse is imminent, sir."

Kirk swallowed, then hardened his gaze."No. That's not going to happen. They don't get to come out of this with a win!"

Just ahead, the mouth of the rip began to spiral shut.

 _"_ _HANG ON!"_

With one final thrust, the _Enterprise_ 'sengines pumped it through the tight gap, cutting out immediately into a complete emergency shutdown. The inertial dampeners did not have the power to protect the crew from the violent forward jolt that shook them. Kirk kept his eyes up, trying to make out the view in front of him. Just behind the far ends of the propulsion nacelles, the large remainder of the rip pulled into itself like a massive hurricane on the field of stars, closing into a dark, concentrated center.

Slowly, the _Enterprise_ drifted across open space. There everyone saw what they hoped they'd see. Beside two familiar stars in an orbit around each other, the serene planet that was New Vulcan spun below, flanked on one side by two large Federation star ships and one considerable Vulcan cruiser.

Sulu nodded at his instruments. "We did it – we're home again."

Brief exchanges, hugs and sighs filled the bridge and around the ship. McCoy directed a medical team arriving on the bridge to T'Mar, then moved to Kirk and put a hand on his shoulder, meeting the Captain's happy expression with one of his own.

"Jim, I never thought I'd see you and Spock alive again. What you two must've been through..."

Kirk shut his eyes. "We what _three_ have been through. Get T'Mar down to sickbay." Frowning, he cast a look toward the weak Vulcan female being moved onto a stretcher. _She doesn't even know about Surok,_ Kirk thought.

"The rip has completely contracted, Keptin. I'm getting no further interference or spurious readings from those coordinates." Chekov almost announced. "It's over, sir. They're gone."

Uhura turned sideways and regarded Spock. Anybody else seeing the expression on his face would conclude that he was deep in thought, but she knew it was more than that. The Vulcan gazed upon his new homeworld with a combination of wonder and recognition, as if realizing for the first time that it belonged to him, and he to it.

As much as she wanted to stand and approach him, her eyes caught on something else. "Captain, we're being hailed. The _USS Intrepid_ , and another communiqué from Starfleet Command via the _Constitution_." She paused. "New Vulcan is also hailing us. They're inquiring about the device and...and about T'Mar and Surok's whereabouts."

Sighing, Kirk steadied himself in the Captain's chair. He would feel better later, but right now he needed to handle his duties. Whatever professionalism and equanimity he had left was summoned in that moment. "Make them aware of the events that occurred during the last twelve hours. Send them copies of our research data and ships logs."

"Aye sir." A few clicks later, relevant information was on its way. "Do you want a channel open? I've got three on standby."

Standing took more than normal effort for a young, healthy officer, but Kirk succeeded nonetheless. "Tell them we all need a moment. I'll be down in sickbay." Barely after finishing, he stumbled into McCoy's arms, suddenly feeling the bridge around him swirl.

Spock seemed to be experiencing the same emotional and physical tidal wave, but maintained his balance enough to be led into the turbolift by a nurse clad in a white protective uniform.

Over the past twelve hours, the _Enterprise_ and her crew had been through the worst of circumstances. They'd faced murderous zombie colleagues, hostile humanoid reptiles, and a powerful fleet of enemy ships, not to mention the subsequent power problems, fires, system interruptions, illness and injuries. Yet throughout it all, they had valiantly kept their composure, managed to keep most of the main functions online, and cured a previously unknown virus. While the ship and its crew were badly in need of rest and repair, they had come to the end of their ordeal _alive_. The sleek grey hull of the _Enterprise_ was now burned in large areas, but the flagship of the fleet still managed to slowly make her way into orbit around the Vulcan colony planet.


	20. Chapter 20

_Chapter 18_

 _Stardate 2259.34_

 _USS Enterprise – Sickbay_

Medbay was a mess. Damage to the floor and walls was prevalent, and debris from the Gorn attack still had yet to be cleared they were a priority, however, they were first to receive full power. One by one, group by group injured individuals were assisted back into the safety of the ship's medical facilities. As suspected, most complaints were for headaches of wounds inflicted by fellow officers. Nurses and doctors were spread thin, helped by any Vulcans on board who weren't themselves injured.

To McCoy, the fact that the bay wasn't crawling with lizard things or crazed officers were good enough for eyed Kirk, who in his exhaustion and stress did not argue, did not offer his usually comical or sarcastic responses to his attempts at providing him with medical assistance. Under different circumstances, he'd be pleased that the captain was so easy going with his staff, complying with every request they made. No longer could the Captain shove away his emotions into a dark corner of himself and leave it there. The stress from the mission had finally affected his body. Now that the device was gone and they were home again, he was willing to let himself give out.

Spock's was the same, almost lethargic. _Too beat up and worn out to argue,_ McCoy mused. Carefully he extracted a small sample of medicine from a non descript vial into his hypo spray, checking the dosage before making his way over to a red shirt who could really use a shot of pain killer. Most of the crew needed some form of medical attention, be it because of the infection or the jolt they took exiting the rip.

There was something more they needed, but rest and mental therapy was something McCoy and his entire staff couldn't give them. But with the _Enterprise_ in the state it was, a long duration at home for repairs was almost assured.

"How's Merrick doing?" Sulu asked, quite anxiously. From his dream state McCoy came down. He turned to see Sulu with a look the helmsman didn't expect to accompany the answer.

"Fine. The wound to the abdominal region was bad and bloody, but only superficial. No major organs were lacerated. I expect a complete recovery. Physically, that is."

Surveying the triage, Sulu observed many of the injured appeared happy. He couldn't blame them, since the disaster was finally over. "Oh, I just got the report from engineering. The _Enterprise_ can move on its own power, and we should have warp capability in a few hours."

"Good."

Now both men turned sharply to see a battered but standing James Kirk. "Jim, what are you doing out of bed? How did you get clearance to leave?"

"I let myself out. Someone else needed it more than I do." A ghost passed over the Captain's face as he observed his injured crew, offering a supportive smile to a young science officer holding her leg with both hands on the floor amongst the others. Carefully stepping between limp forms the nurses made their way about, medical tricorders running and medical tools nearby. "Tell Scotty I'm really gonna owe him one for this."

"Will do, sir." Sulu nodded. As the helmsman left, he snapped his fingers. "Oh, and I almost forgot. Chekov has put the finishing touches on the entire report of the Gorn, from start to finish."

Kirk started, scrunching his brows. "Chekov? I thought Scotty..."

A chuckled rolled out of Sulu's throat. "It's a long story. Essentially, when Scott saw the work he had ahead of him, he was more than happy to hand it off." Turning, Sulu strolled toward the exit doors. Spock and Uhura approached almost in step with each other.

The communications officer looked less exhausted, but still could not conceal the dark circles under her eyes. "Captain, the _Intrepid_ has offered additional support, but for now they've maintained a distance from us in case we still have traces of Gorn virus on board."

"Starfleet has ordered us to return to Earth orbit for necessary repairs and for assistance in recovery and medical aid to the crew."

Kirk placed his hands on his hips. "Alright, Spock. Did you speak to them personally?"

"Yes, I have." Spock stared straight back at him, displaying very little emotion. Everyone knew there was some under there, but the first officer would be last to show it. "I have also alerted the High Command on New Vulcan of Surok's death and of the Helios device. T'Mar has not yet regained consciousness, but I have yet to alert her."

"She probably has a general idea. I don't even think she can take any more bad news today." McCoy grumbled.

Kirk nodded in agreement. "Let's just take stock of the damages and casualties. Bones, Uhura, excellent job today." His eyes filled with emotion, filled with gratitude. "Spock...I really owe you one, buddy. I couldn't have survived all of this without you. Thanks."

"I must credit your efforts as well. Your quick thinking and expert leadership made both our tasks and the crew's mission as a whole a success. Along with the rest of the crew, you in particular were responsible in rescuing my people's world." A smile almost appeared. "It is I who should thank you. You did well...Jim."

Kirk was caught off guard at Spock's casual response, and use of his name. Grinning, he raised an eyebrow. "You're welcome."

 **...**

Arms crossed over his chest, Kirk glared down into a fogged glass panel. Below the icy surface, a blurred but recognizable face lay quiet and still, eyes shut.

 _Daniels..._

Kirkhad despised the man from the moment they'd met. Every time he thought of the aged commodore he got angry.

Again and again the Captain of the _Enterprise_ tried to consider all that Daniels was. Spock's words to the man in the holding cell were exactly what Kirk had wanted to say, but couldn't think of.

 _"It was_ your _ignorant and reckless need for recognition that opened the rip and brought the Gorn through! You abandoned your crew! You lied to T'Mar."_

 _"Your actions_ killed _Surok."_

But that was Daniels in a few words. No respect for his command, for Starfleet or his superiors, and no care for the Vulcans even thought they'd lost their homeworld. He used them to his own personal gain, and did not hesitate to manipulate an otherwise peaceful project into a weapon of warfare. In addition, he was selfish, arrogant, and disrespectful to his crew, greedy, a liar, generally distempered. He didn't even alert Starfleet when his Station was attacked. Instead he ran, leaving all those thousands of men and women for dead. To cap it off, he was willing to let T'Mar die as well.

But still, he was a superior officer. And on Kirk's watch, he'd died. Unbelievable as it was, especially to Kirk himself, he felt guilty for that. If only he had acted a second faster, shot a second earlier, then maybe Daniels could've arrived back alive. To face justice for his crimes. Almost certainly he'd be dishonourably discharged from Starfleet altogether, and put in jail for the massacre.

 _How do you like that, Daniel? You are now truly infamous. You've got the fame you strived for._ A bitter laugh escaped Kirk's lips, only to be cut short by a sharp angry exhale from his chest. Respect for the command, for the rank Daniels had was enough to bring on another wave of remorse.

"I didn't believe it when they showed up here. Scotty told me that someone left emergency beam out indicators that only became visible once the device was moved off the planet. You tagged them for transport?"

"I couldn't just leave them there, Bones." Aside from the Commodore, several other officers were set in cryogenic containment storages. "Last thing they deserved was to be...incorporated into Gorn DNA." The words were almost spat out.

Sighing, McCoy observed the prone bodies. "Daniels, too? I'd have thought it would be better to leave _him_ there, after all he's done."

"No, that's what he would have done. Left me there, left Spock, T'Mar. _I_ won't do that." He shook his head. "Despite everything the man's done, even _he_ didn't deserve this. Someone must care enough about him to want a decent burial on Earth."

"Hmmm." McCoy took this in up beside Kirk, he continued. "Don't get me wrong, it was the right thing to do. I just thought that since you guys were in a hurry, there wouldn't be time for sentimental actions. I'm sure Spock probably found your actions 'illogical.'"

"He doesn't know. Worst part about it is, weweren'teven able to find Surok's body." Thinking of T'Mar, he let his shoulders drop.

"Scotty did, but I elected not to leave him out here with the others." Eyes flaming and teeth grit, McCoy almost shook with anger. "Those... _Gorn_ did a number on him. I'm a doctor, but even I felt sick about it."

"I feel sick about the whole damn thing. Who knows how many people died today...how many civilizations don't exist anymore because of them." Turning, Kirk's tired stare met McCoy's. "How many casualties did we incur?" He broke contact, not sure he wanted to hear the answer.

"It's a miracle, Jim, but so far, we haven't lost a single officer."

All the confused emotions and the fatigue that clouded Kirk's head lifted at the sudden shock of the words that exited his chief medical officer's mouth. "What did you say? None? How did you..."

"It wasn't just me. Everyone on my staff have been working nonstop, treating and helping people whenever and wherever they can. And that virus – well,we've both seen firsthand the kind of horrible things it does to a man, but their injuries are healing at an accelerated rate." He put his hand on Kirk's shoulder. "It must have something to do with that DNA soup they've been cooking up. I've been holding my breath, waiting for the other shoe to drop. Thankfully, they're recovering nicely with only moderate side effects. The cure seems to have given their immune systems an extra kick. I can't understand it yet, but I'll just count my lucky stars and chalk it up to our hard work."

Kirk could feel a weight lift off of his chest. There would be no condolence messages home, no composing of apology letters to families, no funerals to attend upon a return to Earth. When they returned, they would return as a whole, just as they had left.

Looking in no particular direction, Kirk absorbed all of this, still stunned. "So...my crew...they survived it all? Even when they were attacked in the officer's quarters?"

"Yes, that's what I said." Calmly he paced toward the door, the younger man following behind him."I _did_ think some were dead at first, absolute goners. But on closer inspection, they had a faint heartbeat, and extremely light respiration, if at all." Stepping into the crowds of doctors, McCoy continued to wade around officers leading Kirk toward the opposite side of the medbay.

"Because those damn Gorn have lost or damaged a lot of my tools, I've had to improvise with these guys. Twenty-third century medical tech may be a great help, but sometimes nothing beats a good old southern doctor's instincts." The chief pursed his lips, pointing a thumb toward his chest.

Clear of the crowds, Kirk stopped by the doorway of an isolation room, grinning. "Well, Bones, that's why I've got you here. I've got faith that you –"

The fact that a level form was occupying the bed was expected. When Kirk noticed that this man's face was familiar, however, he caught McCoy's arm. This particular man was not a member of his crew.

Once again, he was shocked. " _He's_ alive?" Stepping closer, the face he fixated on became clearer.

Quietly, McCoy stepped around Kirk, nodding at a nurse checking the readings on a large flat screen to the side. Leaning in beside her, he tapped the glass to magnify and obtain details on certain bodily function rates and chemical levels inside the comatose man in the bed behind him.

"Now, this man's a fighter, Jim. When I started losing people from the Starbase, I only expected he would end up like the others beamed from the planet. Like Daniels. But he had life left in him, so I put him on special care."

Nurse Kim let an arm drop to her side, adjusting her collar. "The internal damage is terrible, and we also discovered wounds dangerously close to his spinal column. The injuries look intentionally and immensely painful, but we found them manageable." Placing a hand on the downed man's, she sighed, then look up at her two superiors.

"The psychological harm is something I cannot estimate."

"You've done all you can." Kirk replied. Eyes wandering to the outside, he thought about someone else that was probably feeling hurt right now. "Bones, where's T'Mar?"

"This way, Jim. She isn't awake, but I don't know what state she'll be in if she wakes up."

 **...**

Spock watched T'Mar's chest rise and fall, hardly able to believe that she yet lived. _She is strong._ The nurses had cleaned her up and dressed her in a fresh hospital gown. If one's eyes were squinted, she appeared to be merely asleep. One look at the bruises that marred her skin, however, and the illusion disappeared. He looked from the monitor next to her bed, to the mixture of medicine and electrolytes that dripped into her veins, to the hallway outside where medical staff ran back and forth.

Beside him, Uhura leaned forward in her chair. "I think she's waking up, Spock." She furrowed her brow. "Do you want to be alone when you tell her?"

"She will need both our strength." _As will I_ , he finished silently. The way her eyes softened showed that she guessed what he was thinking. He stood up and moved his chair closer to T'Mar's bedside, feeling Uhura's support flowing into him like T'Mar's meds flowed into her.

The Vulcan woman's eyelids fluttered open. She blinked several more times before angling her head in Spock's direction. "A drink," she croaked. Uhura stood up and pressed a button on the wall, and a cup of water appeared. As she returned to the woman's bedside and lowered the cup to her lips, Spock reached for T'Mar's hand.

T'Mar drank, swallowing weakly. "Thank you." Uhura offered a sad smile of her own as the Vulcan looked Spock in the eyes. Pain mixed with resolve filled hers. "You have news?"

"Yes," Spock began. "News of your father." He felt as though a large object had lodged itself in his throat. _So many have been lost..._

"I know," T'Mar rasped.

Uhura frowned. "How..."

"He-he spoke to me. It is something that has been known to happen in moments of distress." She began to cough again, her cheeks growing faintly green. Uhura offered her the cup again and braced her back with one arm, helping her to sit up. She finished the water from the cup and allowed herself to be lowered back down to the sheets.

"Under extreme stress or pain, Vulcans have been known to be able to project their consciousnesses over large distances." Turning his gaze from Uhura to T'Mar, Spock lowered his head. "What did he say to you?" he asked gently.

T'Mar closed her eyes, remembering. "Something I had often hoped for, but could never be certain of." The barest of smiles crossed her lips even as unshed tears pooled in her eyes. "Now I _know_."

And in that moment, Spock knew, too. "Affirmation," he whispered, nodding. "And absolution."

"Indeed," T'Mar whispered back, a single tear running down her cheek. She felt anything but absolved of what had happened. She was the one who had pushed the device along. She led her team into a potentially dangerous situation, risking so much to give the Helios project life. After all the work she'd done, it had only resulted in disaster.

Uhura reached out one hand and squeezed the injured woman's, offering comfort without words. Her gaze passed between the two Vulcans who sat in silence, understanding each other. _There is not as much distance between us as many believe, after all._

"I am so sorry about what happened." She could barely speak. _How useless it is,_ she thought, _that I can only offer words._ "New Vulcan is faring surprisingly well. The attack was limited to a small area, thank goodness."

Slowly, T'Mar eased herself up the turned up bed, shifting into a comfortable position. "There were many lost. And many on Frontier Starbase. It is a tragic day."

"We destroyed the Helios device." Spock replied. "The Gorn will not be able to use it to harm anyoneever again."

"Good." T'Mar looked calm and at the same time distraught. "Perhaps it is better that way. I am sorry that you two were forced to face so much because of what I have done."

Uhura's expression changed to dismay. "What you've done? You were captured, tortured. You couldn't help giving the Gorn access –"

"- no, that isn't what I meant. I was referring to the device itself. I was the one who went against the recommendations of the elder Spock, and many of the other elders when I began this project. Helios was too dangerous to rush ahead so soon, but I only saw the reward, not the risk."

"Furthermore, I irresponsibly accepted Commodore Daniels' assistance when at the time it seemed to be of a humanitarian nature. Without hesitation I accepted, and did not investigate as to his possible ulterior motives. I should not have allowed him control. If only I could have known that the device would cause a rip, I -"

Spock wouldn't allow her to blame herself any longer. "It is not your fault that the rip was created. Daniels also must have known the risks, but intentionally put aside all potential danger to both the Vulcan people and the Federation to attempt to achieve glory and recognition for his actions. He intended to utilize your device as a method of travelling to distant worlds. I suspect he hoped it would enable fleets to launch surprise attacks on other worlds, such asQo'nos,given Starfleet's state of affairs with the Klingons."

"A project of this magnitude should have been done with more caution. As leader of my science team and Captain over my station's crew, _I_ was responsible for all concerns and problems with the device's construction and operation."

"Daniels is – _was_ , a cunning man. He was well versed in the art of deception." Spock's jaw tensed. Switching to Vulcan standard, he continued. "You are as much a victim as the other Vulcans you served with onboard the Helios station."

"You need to concentrate on getting better and healing your colony. The Vulcan people need each other now more than ever." Uhura added, also in Vulcan.

"I will try, but I suspect the road back to normalcy has only been made longer and more treacherous."

"Osavensu."

All three looked up to see Kirk standing straight, arms behind his back. Smiling warmly, the blonde haired individual patted McCoy on the shoulder as he walked away.

"Captain Kirk." T'Mar responded weakly.

A hand went up. "Please, it's Jim now. How are you feeling?"

"We really can't stay long, Jim." Uhura said. "Doctor's orders. We've already used up our time. Get well soon, T'Mar." The female Vulcan nodded in response.

"Just give us a moment." Kirk pleaded with his eyes. Quietly, Uhura and Spock got up and left, leaving Kirk and T'Mar alone.

"So, how do you like the food around here? Or the medical care? Is my crew treating you alright?"

Nothing came at first. "I find the accommodations more than adequate. I appreciate the kindness I have received and your concern. But my people's well being is paramount. I cannot think about myself when so much had happened to them."

Sliding into a seat, Kirk thought hard before speaking again. "That was really courageous what you did back there. All of this. Most people would have broken easily, you didn't." When he saw her pained eyes, he continued. "If this is about you thinking you don't deserve it, I just spent the last few hours, watching countless people die and Spock and I couldn't do anything to stop it. Doctor McCoy's lost a lot of people in here today. But that's not the point. If it wasn't for you, so many of those people on New Vulcan and the base would've died. _You_ helped _us_."

"I am glad I was able to do that much." Still, T'Mar could not shake the feeling of guilt in her mind. Shoving it to one side, she inquired to the other matter on her mind. "How are repairs progressing on your ship?"

"You should see it. Engineering is swarming with people on Scott's crew. I've never seen so many officers packed into one room since the post- graduation parties. I'm lucky I have time between checking one update and the next. Thankfully, under the circumstances I have been given some time to myself."

"I assume major repairs will be proceeded with once you return to Earth orbit?"

Kirk shrugged. "Yeah, for now were patching holes. Last time I was down there, I could've sworn I heard Mister Scott calling for more duct tape."

An eyebrow rose, and perhaps a corner of her mouth as well. "You are kidding."

"Uh huh. I have to admit I am looking forward to going home again." Clapping his hands together, he leaned in. "The whole crew could use _a lot_ of rest. Until then though, I haven't got much to do, so it looks like we'll be spending some time together. Hope you don't get _too_ annoyed, or do I bore you?" T'Mar almost smiled again. "What?"

"I believe anyone would find that difficult."

"You bet they do." He lowered his voice conspiratorially. "So, tell me – What was Spock like as a child? Same or different?"

Stretching her right arm slightly, she shifted again, unable to quite get comfortable. "I am not sure I am allowed to tell you that. There are some details I believe Spock would wish me to leave out."

Kirk's grin became mischievous. "Good. Tell me those ones first."

McCoy poked his head in. Seeing this chance to avoid Kirk's prying, T'Mar leaned forward to greet him. "Doctor, have you come to check on my condition?"

"Not yet. Normally, yes, but I have some visitors who are quite eager to see you. They've been granted special permission past our temporary quarantine. Special _Captain_ 's permission." He eyed Kirk, whose gaze landed on T'Mar.

"Some...friends from the Vulcan ship following us in orbit wished to see you." Turning to look over his shoulder, he watched the open doorway. T'Mar, curious as to who it was, watched as took her less than a second to recognize the Vulcans that entered.

It was her sister, followed by her first officer.

"Vallanis."T'Mar tried to sit up taller, but her sister shook her head and she gave up trying. Relaxing against her pillow, she sighed. "I did not expect to see you here." _Or anywhere,_ her eyes finished.

Vallanis approached the bedside. "Some things shouldn't be put off." She looked downwards."Later may not come."

"Yes. We know that better than most," T'Mar agreed.

Sepak regarded her for a moment before speaking. "I am glad to see you are doing well. We are all sorry for your loss. Surok will be greatly missed."

"I am glad you are here." T'Mar responded, a little stronger than a moment ago. "Captain, I thank you for your special consideration. Might we have some time alone?" Her glance shifted to McCoy as if asking for him to encourage the Captain's exit. Leaning against the doorway, he smirked.

Kirk threw his hands up in the air. "No problem. Get well soon." He moved to leave the room. "I'll go buy you a balloon in the gift shop or something..."

Four eyebrows raised; one quickly jumped back down into neutral, followed by a soft, "Great. Now _I'm_ doing it, too."

 **...**

 _Stardate 2259.33_

 _USS Enterprise – Spock's Quarters_

It was always slightly odd to observe oneself displaced in time, no less so after the events of the day. Spock regarded the wizened faceon the small screen before him with a calm intensity. "I am sorry to be the bearer of bad news, Ambassador."

Spock Prime nodded. "As I am sorry to receive it." He paused to collect his thoughts."I seem to have made a habit out of narrowly missing catastrophe."

"I trust that you only received the news recently?" Uhura said, as formally as she could. She could not imagine the distress the elder Spock was feeling, or how conflicted his emotions were. If Spock was mourning the losses from the colony, his elder self must have felt worse. He only heard about it, but was unable to do anything to help before disaster struck.

"I was in San Francisco with several prominent scientists, at a conference discussing the study of stellar formations. Considering my role on New Vulcan, I had originally planned to attend only the ambassadorialmeeting being held four days ago, but I agreed to stay behind."

"It is fortunate that you did. I do not know what would have happened had you been present during the attack."

"Your father was with me when the conference was interrupted. We were made aware of the incursion by an unknown race into Federation space." At that moment, the face of Sarek appeared to Spock Prime's left.

"Father, you are well." Spock said, his eyes widening slightly.

"Hello, Sarek." Uhura held up the traditional Vulcan hand symbol.

"Son, Uhura. I am very relieved to see you are alive as well." Emotion clouded his voice. Nodding, Sarek continued. "Before the rest of the fleet could be rallied to fend off attackers from the colony or the Starbase, we heard that the _Enterprise_ had successfully fended off the Gorn, chasing them through the tear in space."

"We were able to rescue T'Mar and eliminate the Helios device. I must give due credit to the actions of both Captain Kirk and the entire crew. Their bravery under pressure was quite admirable."

Sarek met his son's gaze. "You did well. I wish to see you when you arrive."

"I will make sure of it, father." Spock up a Vulcan symbol with his hand, answered with two on the other side of the screen. In a moment, the screen went dark, leaving Uhura and Spock alone in their shared quarters.

Several quiet moments passed before Uhura finally broke silence, studying the Vulcan's serene gaze out at the planet below. "What are you thinking about?" Her head dropped to one side.

"I am...thinking of many things." Spock briefly glanced down, as if making an attempt to but not quite reaching Uhura's eyes.

 _Please don't do this again._ She wished Spock wouldn't keep shutting her out. Over and over she tried to get closer, and every time he seemed to become vacant and distant. What was he blocking out?

Walking closer to him, she slid her arms around his waist. "Spock, I know you must have been through a lot today. Some of the things I've heard..." She shook her head, breathing slowly. Finally she made eye contact, seeing the apprehension in her love's eyes. "You can't keep it locked inside forever. Let me talk to you, let me _help_."

Swallowing, Spock licked his lips. When his stare locked with Uhura's, only affection shone on the surface. But underneath..."Both the Captain and myself were forced to experience pain, loss and suffering throughout our ordeal. We witnessed much death and destruction. At one point, I was forcefully infected by the virus and forced to fight Captain Kirk, almost doing serious harm to him. In the end, our mission was successful. The Helios device was destroyed, and Federation territory is safe from any further Gorninvasions."

So very analytical. It was what he _didn't_ say that concerned her."I know things worked out for the best, but...I also know you're hurting. Your colony was devastated; Surok was _killed_." Uhura's eyes pleaded with him to be more open. "And after all that you have already lost before..."

"Surok's death _is_ a tragedy. I cannot deny I feel regret and grief over the losses of so many lives today." His voice lowered. "When the shuttle breached the bridge's main view screen, I was afraid I would lose _you_."

"And _I_ almost lost _you_! _Severaltimes!_ " Breathing elevated, she paused to compose herself. "When I look at you, I _know_ you're not telling me everything." She grabbed him by the shoulders. "Can we just be honest with each other? Spock, you may be Vulcan, but lately?What you've faced would be enough to overwhelm _anybody_."

Uhura felt the pressure on her back as the Vulcan's arms pulled her closer. "I am comforted by the fact that you are uninjured, and that there is still a colony left to rebuild. The Vulcan people as a whole are strong, and find solace in each other. I find my solace in confiding in my friends. In you, Nyota."

Calm again, Uhura could see a slight relief in Spock's eyes. It was a start, this small bit of insight into his mind, but it'd do for now. Eyes glistening, she smiled. "And I in you." She leaned into his embrace. "There's always hope."

In her heart, she truly believed it.

 **...**

 _"Personal log, Lieutenant Nyota Uhura. Spock won't admit it to me, but I can tell how much it means to him to see a new Vulcan colony established. He rarely talks about the loss of his homeworld. If anything, it's like he's become more Vulcan since the tragedy. But I know him too well."_

Spock clung to his Vulcaness as though it was up to him alone to preserve what was left of his cultural heritage. From the way he looked at and spoke of the new colony that much was very clear. Lately, she'd wondered if he might be planning to transfer there. She'd already checked with the liaison office; there was a position for her if she wanted it, but she hoped it wouldn't come to that. A tiny part of her feared that if she brought it up with him, he might not _want_ her to come along. Spock _belonged_ on the _Enterprise_ , and so did she. _That's all there is to said._

From the day Vulcan was destroyed until now, she had noticed a change in him. Though she knew the issue surrounding his home and his mother was still raw, she wondered why it had not dissipated in the last year.

She passed quickly down the unusually quiet hallways. Though the level of damage they had received would normally elicit a flurry of activity from all departments, nothing in this section, at least, was critical. She suspected everyone was just taking a collective breather on the ride home. Relief repair crews would board soon enough when they returned home, replacing the bone-weary engineering staff. Uhura was looking forward to soothing, hot mounds of bubbles, followed by warm blankets and a rest at least as long as the chaos they'd experienced that day.

 _Spock will come around, now that this is over._ Tomorrow would bring a new start for the Vulcans. And perhaps one for Spock's heart as well.

 **...**

 _Stardate 2259.33_

 _USS Enterprise – Kirk's Quarters_

Though his bed called to him, Kirk refused to answer. He had duties to attend to. That, and he didn't want to sleep. He had a pretty good idea what kind of things he'd see once he fell into a deep sleep. Ones he did not want to face.

He flopped into his chair, moving in under his desk as he checked the PADD set on the table, away from the stack of others close by. It displayed the words GORN MISSION ANALYSIS SUMMARY sent from Chekov's station with compliments of one chief engineer swamped in work. By now, Scotty was probably where everyone else was: at the consoles, but fast asleep or getting there. The _Enterprise_ was mobile and drifting with escort back to Earth, safely and steadily on course, so Kirk would let this sudden attack of exhaustion go. After all, he felt it more than anyone.

Fingers tapping the screen, he browsed through the text, section by section, skimming over it without fully taking in everything. There'd be time for that later. At the end, Kirk stopped at the subtitle labelled GORN SPECIES RESEARCH.

 _Not much I don't already know._ Hitting the indicator once, the screen changed to give detailed reports of the different aspects of Gorn culture and relevant experiments, including scanner 3-D imaging. Carefully, he read what his engineer had composed.

 _"Despite their primitive ferocity, it appears the Gorn have a strict social structure. At the bottom are the foot soldiers. A strict hierarchy continues up based on superior strength and intelligence, culminating in the ruling class that decide where and when the Gorn will strike next. That doesn't sound all that different from Starfleet, come to think of it."_

Kirk chuckled. _Some instructors weren't that different either._ It was remarkable how similar and yet how horribly different the two were.

 _"You can't say the Gorn let anything go to waste. They extract the strongest genetic traits from their conquests to add to their own physiology, and then they use their prisoners as a slave army to remake the world in the Gorn image. It would be impressive if it wasn't so horrifying."_

 _"It's not just genetic information that the Gorn take from conquered species. They analyse and adopt the technology of each defeated race, so that with each world they conquer, the Gorn become that much more advanced. Weapons, tools, engineering, everything is fair game for the Gorn war machine."_

Just below Scott's closing remarks on the subject, Kirk's eyes glanced at the next title. GORN EXPERIMENTS. Tentatively, he wondered whether or not he should open it. Curiosity overwhelmed better judgement, drawing his finger down toward the glass.

 _"Some kind of holding tank. It looks like there are various points at which some kind of liquid can be injected inside, effectively drowning the subject inside. Lovely."_

 _"No need to wonder what this is for. The Gorn tie their prisoners down and go to work -"_

Kirk's index finger punched the window closed before he could read another word. _Ugh. I_ knew _this was a bad idea. Nightmare city._ He massaged his temples, trying to drive the terrifying images away. If there was any hope left for a good night's sleep, Bones would bring it to him. Whether it came in the form of a sleeping pill, a stiff drink, or some mind-numbingly dull anecdote about his days as a medical student – " _Did I ever tell you about the time we dissected a Ligrynian sea slug?"_ or some such blather- Kirk welcomed it. _Anything to forget all about the Gorn._

At the sound of a chime, Kirk looked up towards the door. _Guess Spock isn't the only one who can read minds._ He was halfway across the room when the chime sounded again, this time from behind him. Kirk stopped in his tracks, confused. _Oh. It's the comm._

"Incoming communiqué from Starfleet on a private channel." The computer's familiar voice said.

Dropping back into his chair, he propped both feet on his desk and leaned back. "On screen."

A familiar face appeared on the screen. The middle aged man stared back with mild sarcasm. "What have you done to my ship, Jim?"

Kirk grinned. "Pike!" It was all he could not to attempt to reach through the screen. He couldn't be happier. Bringing his voice down to a normal pitch, he sighed and continued. "Uh, she's okay, sir. A bit worse for wear, but Scotty's got that under control. We're on course and on schedule to be home in a few hours. Everything's good."

"I know you're exhausted, son, but that's no excuse to leave boot marks on _my_ desk. Didn't your Academy years teach you better than that?"

Kirk swung his feet down to the floor with a start. "Right. Yeah, uh, wow, what was I thinking?" He scratched his head, face flushing. "Sir," he added.

Pike shook his head, smiling. "Relax. I didn't make this call just to check up on your manners. I called to see how you were." He leaned forward, and Kirk felt as though the man was actually in the room. "And I don't mean officially, either. Save the mission status briefing for later when your head's clear." From what Kirk could tell, the admiral wasn't in his office, either; the chair he sat in was far too comfortable looking to be standard issue. A green drink sat next to him on a small side table, half-full with ice cubes in it.

Kirk leaned on a fist. "You're right, it has been difficult. But we're alive, all of us. _That's_ the important thing right now."

"You know, I have already been briefed as to what happened. First the rescue on Helios-1, then the Vulcan colony, then the Starbase, then who knows where; and all in just hours. We got the gist of it from the Vulcans. You and Spock saved a lot of people today. That was a very risky move you two pulled by sending the ship through the rip." Taking a sip from his drink, he continued. "We didn't know whether or not you'd re-emerge. Coulda gotten trapped over there."

"Well, it was worth the risk. If we didn't, the Gorn would've destroyed countless worlds."

"I was also told of the orders you gave." Glancing down at a PADD, he read, "that the ship would return through if you didn't make it out in time. That took guts."

"If you could've seen what kind of hell hole that planet was, you'd know just how hard it was for all of us on that shuttle." A dry, emotionless laugh escaped his throat.

Pike tilted his head sideways."Jim, are you _sure_ you're okay?"

"Yup. All the right parts in all the right places." Kirk attempted to make a joke, but his expression showed that even he didn't find it funny. He swallowed hard. "Let's just say I'm kind of dreading trying to sleep tonight. Some images just burn themselves into your mind, you know what I mean?"

"Been there. It gets easier with time and talking."

"Everything I've studied...it's just... _nothing ever_ prepares you for this. The sheer brutality of it all. Being stalked... _hunted_ by somebody who _delights_ in your death." Kirk closed his eyes for a moment, hearing the screams and explosions. Blood everywhere...

"Jim?"

Cold sweat ran down his back. "Yeah? Y-yeah, I'm still here." He cleared his throat. "So. New Vulcan. Any plans for a relief effort yet? They've suffered heavy damage down there. It's a lot to clean up."

Pike nodded. "Already underway." He paused, thinking. "Funny thing about that. It's got to be the fastest I've seen them move on any rebuild project, since Vulcan of course. They moved quickly then, but I guess when one of our own is to blame, it greases the wheels a bit." He sighed. "But don't tell anyone I said that. The only thing I can't understand is how Daniels got that far into the Helios project without detection."

"I can assure you he won't be going any further, sir. He's dead."

Pike frowned. "What happened?"

"Gorn. We recovered his body." Kirk didn't feel the need to elaborate. "But beside that, he _was_ working carefully with the Vulcan scientists to keep Helios under wraps until it was ready. Most of the Vulcan High Council wasn't aware of the measures being taken, let alone Starfleet's highest. It only stands to reason that he would."

"Why would he use the Vulcans like that, though? What was he up to?"

"He saw its potential to be a weapon. It could make massive tears in space time, so basically, you could open a door to anywhere in the universe. Before the necessary tests could be made, he started it up. Guess he couldn't wait any longer to see its results."

The admiral closed his eyes. "Okay, but that seems odd. The Vulcans don't seem like the type to just allow anyone access to their secure systems, let alone the one thing supposed to terraform their world."

"They were desperate. In exchange for resources, manpower and funding, he was allowed more control and opportunities to oversee the device's construction and testing."Kirk yawned. "I knew Daniels was up to something. Frankly, it didn't surprise me in the least that _he_ was behind this. I just didn't expect him to come out and say it."

"What I don't understand is how he had the resources or the ability to fund and conceal all of the activity." Another sip of his drink. "Daniels must have had some help from somewhere."

"Yeah." Kirk responded, almost lethargically. "I suppose now we may never find out if there was someone."

Pike could see the exhaustion on his young protégées face. James Kirk and his crew had been through what most captains gradually experience throughout at least a few years of command in a single _day_. Already tiny lines had begun to form on his face. Part of him wanted to turn back the clock to the carefree boy Jim could have been, but he knew that as painful as this was, a better man would ultimately emerge because of it.

"Listen, Jim," he began. "enough about Starfleet protocol and politics. You look like you're gonna fall out of your chair. You need to take better care of yourself. Get some rest, son."

 _Son._ Kirk never did know his biological father. He could only ever hear the many tales of his heroic death saving his crew's life from either Starfleet, his mother, his brother and just about anyone else he met in the Academy. The name Kirk was revered by all, but George Sr. moreso than James. More than anything, Kirk longed to know more about his father, longed to talk with him, to know him. Christopher Pike came closest. Though there was no genetic link between the admiral and captain, Pike was almost a surrogate father to James Kirk.

"I will, d -" Kirk faltered. "I will _do_ that, as soon as we return. I just know if I sleep now, I might not get up for a week." Though he still didn't know how he could fall asleep after the day he'd had, Kirk was smiling. For real this time.

Pike grinned back. "I'll arrange a wake-up call. How does 0600 hours sound?"

"600 hours is great, thanks." Kirk laughed. "But how will you explain my absence for the next, uh, month or so?" Kirk yawned, then laughed again. Pike joined in soon after.

 **...**

 _Stardate 2259.34_

 _USS Enterprise – Bridge_

 _"Captain's log, supplemental. The Federation is safe from the Gorn...for now. I'm starting to wonder if there is anything Spock and I can't do when we work together. Seems that the older Spock was right. Our partnership...our_ friendship _really is something...special. Our mission would not have succeeded if not for the exemplary performance of my crew. They are all truly deserving of commendations for this one. I have recommended to both Starfleet and the Vulcan High Council the T'Mar be awarded honours for bravery. I am happy to report that she_ will _be allowed to continue her work in the rebuilding of New Vulcan. I know that she still blames herself for what happened, but hopefully, one day, she will realise that it was Commodore Daniels who demises the blame for the Gorn invasion. We've just been given new orders by Admiral Pike to travel to the planet Nibiru to help in some sort of humanitarian mission. Hopefully this mission will include..._ way _less Gorn than the last one. Kirk out."_

Of course, those orders were for _after_ the ship went through repairs, which might take a month. Kirk would enjoy every day.

Long ago in a cave on Delta Vega, an elder Vulcan man told Kirk that he and Spock would go on to be best of friends and achieve great things together. Then, he could hardly believe that this could ever be possible. Now, he wondered how he could've ever doubted it. Spock was the best first officer he could ask for.

Reaching gently to his right, Kirk shut off the comm pickup. The bridge was absolutely silent, except for the cadence of instrumentation. It was early morning according to the ship's chronometer, but no one had the energy to leave their stations. For a while after breaking out of the rip's hold, the ship barely held on. Now that she was stabilized, the _Enterprise_ driftedslowly along through the darkness, wounded and burnt but functional.

Every word was true and heartfelt. After a moment of searching for more to add, Kirk relaxed. His helmsman struggled to keep his head up and his eyes open.

"How is she, Sulu?"

"Hmmm?" Sulu responded, barely audible. "Oh, right. We're moving along steadily, sir. I've got her on auto pilot. It's a straight path back home. Can't wait to get there."

"Good job today, Sulu. Don't worry about it, just get some rest."

"Thank you sir. Don't mind if I do."

The exhausted crew was either asleep or close to it. Chekov was face down on his console, while Sulu leaned back in his chair, eyes shut and breathing steady. Uhura seemed quite content pressing her face against Spock's shoulder, their chairs pushed close together. Other lieutenants, ensigns and officers around the ship slept soundly, a rest well deserved after what had happened.

"Computer?" Kirk inquired quietly. "Dim the lights."

It chirped as it replied to his request, lowering the illumination to a subdued glow. Sighing, Kirk leaned back in his chair, allowing his muscles to relax and his eyelids to shut. Though the captain's chair was never meant to sleep in, it felt strangely comfortable.

 **...**

 _"First officer's log, supplemental. It is regrettable that the Vulcan people have suffered yet another loss with the death of Surok. Although his legacy will live on through his work, his absence cannot be understated. I am, however, relieved to know that T'Mar will continue in her father's footsteps. Our people will benefit greatly by the work she is doing to rebuild New Vulcan. Doctor McCoy believes that her recovery will be long and arduous, but as someone familiar with her courage and convictions, I do not doubt that she will impress us all. She is, after all, Vulcan. I owe a great deal of gratitude to Captain Kirk. Against all odds, his steadfast leadership and lightning-quick decision making have allowed us to save the Federation and the remaining Vulcan population from invasion. I am grateful that Doctor McCoy's antidote stopped me from causing permanent damage to the Captain. Losing him would be a tragedy for Starfleet, and for myself. The Captain has just informed the crew that we have been ordered to the planet Nibiru. Our role has yet to be articulated, but I anticipate that it will be a fascinating experience."_

Spock stirred in his chair. The blanket draped over his shoulders fell to the floor as he sat up. His room was dark. _How many hours has it been?_ He checked the computer. It was 0427. _I must have fallen asleep here. But the blanket..._ He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and looked over his shoulder towards the bed. Uhura was asleep under the sheets, her face pressed close to the pillow. _Ahh._ She must have covered him up before heading to bed. Vaguely, he remembered recording his log and then trying to catch up on the reports he'd been working on prior to the attack.

He stood up and crossed the room. It was much as he'd left it earlier, save for a few of his possessions scattered across the floor. His gaze rested upon the chess board. Something seemed out of place. After a moment, he realized what it was; one of his pieces had been moved. He highly doubted that a Gorn officer had taken time out from destroying the _Enterprise_ to suggest a different move for him. Nor would Nyota have altered his strategy. The only obvious solution that presented itself was a certain opponent who was infamous for his "unconventional" methods. He reached for his magnetic chess piece and moved it back into place. Satisfied, he stretched and went back to retrieve the blanket.

Pressing a kiss to Nyota's cheek, he covered her with his blanket and exited the room. _It is far more difficult to fall asleep in the science lab._ He imagined his chess adversary and best friend would disagree.

Kirk was difficult to understand at times, and frustratingly easy to comprehend other times. Yet there were three people he would trust with his life; Uhura, Doctor McCoy and Kirk himself. The captain had proven himself more than adequately suited for his role, showing flair, intelligence and bravery that was unmatched by other captains. He had also proven himself to be a worthy adversary in chess, and a loyal friend.

Spock was truly glad he had gone with his older self's advice. His position as first officer under Captain Kirk seemed to work out best for everyone.

 **...**

 _"Chief medical officer's personal log, supplemental: If anyone had told me a few years ago that one day I'd be calling the punk kid I almost puked on 'sir', I'd have ordered a full psychiatric evaluation. That, or a tox screen. Now I look back, and I wonder what I'd ever have done without him. Same goes for Spock. I guess it's true what they say about friendships forged in fire._

 _As for those Gorn...well, if_ I _had_ my _way, it'd be a cold day in hell before we saw hide nor...scale of those nasty varmints again. But I've got to hand it to my medical team; their work has been nothing short of exemplary, considering the chaos they had to operate still looks pretty rough in here; we'll probably be scrubbing blood off the walls for another month._

 _As soon as we're shipshape again, we'll be bound for deep space again. No space battles or hand-to-hand combat required...hopefully; just a simple observe and report. Personally, I think Starfleet is cutting us a break, but who's complaining? Certainly not me. For once, a mission that combines all of my favourite things; science, discovery, and a pleasant climate. What's the worst that could happen?"_

 **...**

 _Stardate 2259.41_

 _Starfleet Headquarters_

 _San Francisco, California, United States_

 _Earth_

 _"Personal log, Lieutenant Hikaru Sulu. The crew has united behind Captain Kirk. We all heard the whispers back on Earth when he was promoted. He was too young, he didn't pay his dues. But all of that is meaningless out here. We all see how qualified he is_ every _day with_ every _decision he makes. They can say what they want anywhere else. All that matters is that onboard_ this _ship, the captain has the trust of his crew."_

Hikaru Sulu stood at attention, chest out with a smile wide across his face. Clad in his dress uniform, he looked much like the other members of the _Enterprise_ crew, all at attention as the upper Starfleet brass filed into the auditorium. One by one they came, led by the President of the Federation herself.

Continuing to scan the room, he could see Scott, Keenser, McCoy and Uhura nearby, grinning and exchanging laughter. As often as he'd seen the higher ranking officers before at various prestigious events, the sight never failed to fill him with the sense of greatness, significance. Like someday _he'd_ be looking down upon the eager young kids with the same knowing smile, thinking of all that they would see and accomplish in the years to come. Personally, he couldn't even begin to _imagine_ what awaited them beyond this.

Though the Gorn hadn't left a single scar on the Earth's surface, it had been all that the Federation news service could talk about for the last week. Kirk had declined all interviews with media, as did Spock. An outpouring of support came flooding into New Vulcan from many Federation member planets, notably the Starfleet. From projected reports, they promised to have complete reconstruction and resettlement on the planet by the end of the year.

Funerals and memorials had come and gone for the many lost in the disasters. Today, however, was a different day. A day in which the crew of the _Enterprise_ was being honoured as a whole for their actions in repelling the enemy incursion.

At his shoulder, the curly haired navigator Pavel Chekov stood beaming with joy at the proceedings. There was no sign of a limp from his injury, though there was still therapy to go through yet. The look on the young ensign's face made it appear that this ceremony was all for him.

"Excited, Pavel?"

" _Da,_ very." He looked down at his shoes. "I think I see a scuff. Do you?"

Hikaru followed his gaze. He shook his head. "You're imagining things."

"Just think," the Russian continued, already forgetting what he'd asked, "this is only the beginning."

"Of?" Hikaru's head tilted.

"Greater things. I figure, we are going places. I cannot wait." He was almost bouncing on the balls of his feet now. "I hope the Gorn don't follow us there, however," he finished, worrying his lip.

Sulu blew out a breath. "That makes two of us."

"I can't wait to get out there again. See new things."

They watched as Spock, Kirk, T'Mar were brought forward. Lowering his voice, Sulu replied, "That's exactly what I'm looking forward to as well."

 **...**

San Francisco was surprisingly lovely, even though the weather in California is rarely anything but warm. Sun shone down around the city, giving the city a warm, inviting feel. Residents filled the parks and beaches, enjoying the various amenities around them. Across the academy campus grounds, cadets both freshmen and senior alike went from class to class, stopping to chat with friends and grab bites to eat between study sessions and post-class activities. The Golden Gate Bridge stretched resolutely and proudly over the glistening blue waters of the bay, bringing onlookers to the shores to appreciate the view. To the citizens of the bustling metropolis, it was a perfect day by all accounts.

The same overall feeling of happiness and serenity was felt deep inside James Kirk. A week separated him and his crew from chaos and disaster, but it was now drifting far from his mind. Today's proceedings were about success, victory and optimism for the future.

In a row, Kirk, T'Mar and Spock stood tall. The two Vulcans were quite formal, hands behind their backs and faces straight. If she was in pain, she barely showed was still a little sore in places he hadn't known existed prior to this. After taking most of a week off, he thought that the rest and relaxation with McCoy would've all but eliminated his discomfort.

He could feel the eyes of all assembled upon him. _Get used to it. Nobody becomes a hero without drawing a few onlookers._ Still, the boy who had always sought the attention of others felt a little awkward nonetheless.

"Glad you could make it, T'Mar." Kirk whispered to the side. T'Mar acknowledged him with a half smile, but said nothing. Something in her eyes still seemed distant. He couldn't blame her, losing her father after all. It would be a long time before even she could completely heal from all of this.

"Are you nervous?" Spock asked, leaning to the side with an eyebrow raised.

"Not much."A corner of Kirk's mouth rose. "I'm actually getting used to this." The way this was going, Kirk thought he might make admiral by thirty.

"I can assume you will have many occasions in the future in which you will be able to." As Spock leaned back into line, he considered what the future may bring. He expected the next few years would bring many more adventures.

Kirk's eyes moved around the room, first looking back at his friends, then forward to the lines of his superiors. Many faces, Vulcan, Human, Tellarite, Andorian and others were seated together. One face among a group of human men and women stuck out. Christopher Pike smiled and nodded proudly. Kirk appreciated the looks of admiration and gratitude he got from his crew, but none felt quite as meaningful or special as the one from the admiral.

Admiral Barnett, a tall and imposing man stepping forward from the other admirals in line, shook hands with each of the three lined in front of him. When he reached Kirk, he stopped.

"We meet again."

"That we do, sir." Kirk grinned, standing straighter. "I am truly honoured to be receiving this. We all are."

"I'm glad you all are well enough to attend." The warm smile from within the gotee made Kirk slightly more comfortable in his place under the proverbial spotlight.

A curt nod. "As am I."

Clearing his throat, Barnett began just after the crowd got settled into their seats."Today, we are gathered to honour the actions taken by the crew of the _USS Enterprise_ and T'Mar of Vulcan. We owe a great debt to those you see before you now. Their exemplary actions under sudden fire, their dauntless courage in the face of an unknown enemy, their unwavering commitment to their dutydeserves our highest gratitude. There are many people in attendance today that wouldn't be alive if not for the actions of these fine officers. I give you thanks on behalf of Starfleet, the Vulcan High Council and the Federation, and present you with these awards as a mark of achievements."

The speech went on, but the words seemed to blur as Kirk soaked in the moment. He, Spock and T'Mar received their medals with humility and gratitude. Still in the back of his mind, he wondered how the repairs were coming on his ship. It would still be another week or two before they set out for Nibiru. Already he was eager to get back into space. It was calling to him, and he would answer.


	21. Chapter 21

_Epilogue_

 _Stardate 2263.189_

 _San Francisco, California, United States_

 _Earth_

Rain pelted down from the dark sky, showering the ground and creating small rivulets of water rushing along the edges of the curbs. People on the streets scurried into cabs and cars or into buildings to avoid the inclement weather. Jackets and umbrellas fought with and rippled against the occasional gust of wind that whipped around, making visibility somewhat difficult. Crowds of people went from place to place, many going into the subways on their way to work.

The commute from downtown San Francisco to the suburbs surrounding Los Angeles was long, but somewhat therapeutic. Vehicles could travel at incredible speeds, but sometimes it just meant more to take the long way. It helped one think deeper, or sometimes escape the thoughts altogether.

Life in big cities like Baltimore, Dallas, New York or Miamiwas much the same, with little variance in the daily encounters or the people there. People come and go, travel and explore the sites with little thought as to what goes on around them. Life in the middle of a large population center was sometimes so crowded, so confusing. All the normal people with average lives.

 _I used to be one._

Lewis Abaran's life was different. _Forever_. Having been honourably discharged years ago from active duty, his other life he had lived on a distant Starbase was gone.

 _Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder_. That was what the Starfleet medical heads had officially classified him as suffering from, once he had awaken from a coma and was well enough to understand his own surroundings as reality and not some nightmare or blurred dream. Now, to stay active and in society, he served at a desk job, managing the quieter, mundane issues surrounding cadets and officers. A far cry from his distant life in Chicago, where he could escape from Starfleet worries and problems and immerse himself in normalcy during shore leave or other agreed upon vacations. That was gone as well.

All he had left were memories. Memories that would haunt him day and night, at the most inopportune times. There were days when it was okay, whole weeks when he didn't once consider the past few years. In the darkest of times, however, he had few other things to occupy the dark hole in his mind than the faces and the cries of his friends as they died, whether on the Starbase or on the planet's surface.

 _Claws. Teeth. Gunfire._ It was all still in his mind, as if he had only been through the nightmare yesterday. Family was in close reach, but the move from Illinois to California was necessary to be close to Starfleet for rehabilitation and recovery.

Friends and former co-workers from the distant doomed deep space station occasionally showed up. The encounters were awkward and somewhat shadowed. Good memories were quickly blackened when the mention of a deceased friend involved usually followed. Still, it gave him some comfort. A few were strong enough to keep going, to keep serving in Starfleet. Sometimes the thought was entertained by Abaran himself, though he knew Starfleet would never accept him back in his "condition." They felt sorry for him, and meant no offence when they rejected him.

A short stroll past cars going by got him across the soaking street. Thunder rumbled overhead, following brief flashes of distant lightning. The dark, rainy atmosphere that surrounded Abaran did not trouble him like it did most others. For years, he felt right at home in its depressing embrace.

 **...**

Starfleet military cemetery, one of many across the world, was not crowded save a handful of people that walked between the rows of gravesites, stopping to leave flowers and floral wreaths for loved ones. Abaran's journey took him to several different sites, each one evoking memories of the person whose name was inscribed on it.

There were some he couldn't easily visit, because they were brought home to be buried in other parts of the country or world, close to where other loved ones were buried as well. He made the trips out there annually, paying respect to the fallen officers.

Lannon. Gomes. Buchanan. Liang. Karthanjay. The rows of gravestones, crosses and plaques appeared almost endless. _How many people have died in Starfleet today? How many are here? How many countless individuals have been buried elsewhere on Earth? How many_ more _never had their bodies recovered even?_

So much death, loss and pain clouded his mind. Therapists told him not to think that way, but did encourage his attempts at reaching out to others who empathized and could truly help in comprehending losses and horrors. In that second he felt a rush of emotion surge up his throat, catching his breath. All the pain these people must've suffered.

All the pain his friends suffered. _Then why am_ I _alive? How come I got out and they didn't, God?_ His pained, wet eyes reached skyward, letting the rain run down his face. Sharp, steady breaths entered and exited his chest.

Eyes downcast, he regarded the graves as he continued along. His feet were now cold and wet from the wet grassy turf he walked on.

He wasn't exactly sure where Richard Daniels had been laid to rest, but he did not feel hate for the man. Over time his feelings had mellowed. His ex-commodore was to blame for all of this, but he had already suffered for his wrongdoings.

Taking in a deep breath, Abaran pushed down his feelings and knelt next to a few of the graves, quietly muttering a few idle thoughts all his own to his departed friends. After a moment longer, he turned and left, making his way silently into the fog that rolled ashore to the street to catch his bus.

 **...**

 _Stardate 2263.189_

 _Los Angeles, California, United States_

 _Earth_

The weather was no different near his place of residence. In the silence of the lift taking him up the floors, he unzipped his coat and composed his feelings. Here it was different and difficult to adjust to, as was much of his newly acquired day to day life. Most friends and family somehow felt distant though they tried not to be. However, one constant remained with him through everything.

As the automatic doors slid open, the familiar warmth and scent of his condominium calmed him. No lights were on despite the darkness from the storm outside. The temperature was set to a comfortable level at which he preferred. Dinner was already being prepared. Removing his jacket, his right ear detected a sound from somewhere in another room around the corner. This simple reality would be his future.

Light footsteps preceded the appearance of a slender woman passing the light from the slid doors leading to the balcony. Her eyes greeted him with the same love and affection they always had. Sliding her hand down, she gently moved her fingers across the very obvious protruding curve in her stomach, stopping in the middle to feel for movement inside.

 _The future._ She was still not due for another three months, yet even now his heart rate accelerated to a level that his paranoid doctors would be alarmed at. Perhaps, it was his eager anticipation. Most likely it was because she just looked so beautiful, so perfect to him.

"Diane." The name softly left his lips. Closing the distance between him and her, he encircled her in his arms. All the pain seemed to fall away from him for that moment. _This is why I'm still here._ He was sure of it. At least, as sure as he could be.

Worried eyes met his. "How are you feeling?"

It took a moment to consider his response, to properly gauge exactly how he did feel. With Diane here, and his family soon to double in size, he couldn't find a problem with his emotions now. Maybe that night he'd wake up in a cold sweat, or maybe next week he'd have a brief flashback or painful memory. He would have to confront those when they came, one by one. But for now, he only had one response. Moving his face into her sweet scented hair, he held her a little tighter, not ever wanting to let go.

"Wonderful. Just perfect." A tear streaked down his cheek. Her eyes were wet as well, but this time they were from joy and hope instead of sorrow.

 **...**

 _Stardate 2263.189_

 _New Vulcan – T'Mar's residence_

Three suns set beyond the farthest reaches of the horizon, painting a colourful mural across the sky and along the calm waters of the ocean. It was this spectacular sight in particular that made New Vulcan an attractive place to visit. The technicians and officers put on the colony from Starfleet to assist the Vulcans in construction enjoyed this certain advantage of living here on a temporary basis.

Calm breezes whipped through T'Mar's hair as she gazed thoughtfully out at the water. The paper she had been preparing for her talk at the Ke'pash Institute lay on the small table beside her, forgotten. It detailed the early success of her latest project; reclaiming desert ground for agricultural purposes using a method documented in one of the recently re-discovered "lost" texts of ancient Vulcan history. The artefact in question had been located on a distant world's record files, being held at the time by an elder Vulcan that had since forgotten his store of texts that had personal meaning to him. It was irregular for a Vulcan to keep something so precious off of Vulcan and not in the science academy or the katric arc, but it was now seen as fortunate that he had kept it there.

Already, several acres of newly fertile ground had been seeded with various edible plants donated by individuals and groups within the Federation. She smiled slightly, recalling the small patch that contained cuttings and samples from the _Enterprise'_ s science division. Their gift had been _particularly_ well-received.

On a whole, the Vulcan colony was thriving now. Large structures were either completed or in various stages of construction. The din of machinery at work had died down quite some time ago. Gazing out, T'Mar could not find a trace of the damage they had suffered. The city's interior and largest buildings stood tall and solid against the orange skies.

She had just visited one such building, the Great Hall. Often she marvelled over the reconstruction there had been on the interior and the massive glass dome-like roof. It was alive and crowded with Vulcans,some working diligently in the many offices, othersappreciating the unique architecture that made New Vulcan truly a home for them all. The latest population figures of the colony reported that their numbers had topped 15 000. Slowly, T'Mar made her way around the center, reading the inscriptions on the memorial abstract statues placed to remember prominent figures who perished during the loss Vulcan in 2257 and the battle of New Vulcan in 2259, along with one for the Vulcan's death itself. Among the names were scientists and leaders T'Par, Sh'Tok, Seppan, T'Varnis, Terrik and Siveak. The newest one, Surok's, was specially put in and inspected by T'Mar and Vallanis. It had to be just right.

 _Four years, five months and eight days since_. Since she had last seen her father still pained her sometimes to think of all he could have accomplished had he lived. All she could have learned from him. _We are poorer without you, Father._ I _am poorer..._

The _Enterprise_ had visited once since. She had briefly seen Spock again, but unfortunately it was again not on good circumstances. _PonnFarr,_ a seven year cycle that calls Vulcans back to their home to mate with their betroved, _had_ negatively affected his mind. There was no Vulcan to return to, and sometimes melding was not enough to cure the anguish.

This combined with the stress from the extensive loss that some Vulcans felt was too much for their minds to contain. They had become the _sasaud_ , the Vulcan word for "the lost." Luckily, Kirk and his crew found a way to aid in their recovery. It was only then that she could meet with the crew and exchange pleasantries.

A woman she hadn't seen before among the crew inquired to her and the others about Helios and the project. She was young, bright and incredibly interested in the possibilities surrounding the specifications surrounding it. Quickly, however, she tried to deflect her own interest once she realized that it was difficult to talk about for some given the painful memories that accompanied it. Nonetheless, T'Mar discussed it with her, making it clear that such a device would be best suited as a theoretical model, but not in a useable, functional form. For the safety of everyone, it was best that way.

A small bird landed on the railing of the balcony she leaned against. It began to preen itself, calmly unaware that she stood sighed and stepped back, picking up her tablet computer, and turned to head inside. Just as she reached the door, she paused. There had been a time when she had taken the beauty of her home for granted, as though it would always be there. _I know better now._ T'Mar returned to her place by the railing. The bird now sat looking out upon the shore, its feathers only slightly ruffled by the cool ocean breeze. _I will remain with you a little longer, bird. Some things should not be rushed..._

"T'Mar?" Vallanis stood off to the side, asmall brown bowl cupped in her hand. "I am preparing some soup. Would you like some?"

After the attack, Vallanis had elected to stay behind to help her sister, who in turn assisted New Vulcan as a whole. It was her and T'Mar's decision that they should no longer keep apart, being the only members of their immediate family left. So much destruction and loss could only be recovered from by finding relief in the form of the other Vulcans that shared the same grief. Over the years, raw emotion had given way to new hope. It now seemed that the Vulcan people could only become stronger and better from here onward.

"I would." T'Mar answered. How long had it been since she had eaten anything substantial? She had had a light breakfast early that morning before setting off for eye closed as she inhaled the aroma that was filling the air. "One of Mother's recipes?"

"Indeed. Though I do not think it will be as good as hers was." Vallanis leaned against the door. A single strand of her hair blew in the wind.

T'Mar frowned. "It is illogical to believe that two dishes prepared in precisely the same manner will differ _that_ significantly."

"Perhaps," Vallanis agreed. "But some ingredients are less tangible than others."

She thought for a moment. "Yes. Some are." _Like maternal care._ "I will be with you shortly." T'Mar folded her arms across her chest. The bird had flown off sometime during their conversation.

"We can eat outside. If that pleases you, sister." Vallanis' voice carried a note of understanding.

"I would like that. The atmosphere is pleasant here."Taking a seat, she returned her eyes to the skies. They were so open and free. The shades of pink, violet and blue in the clouds were brilliant.

Taking a seat beside her, Vallanis set down two bowls and spoons on a small flat surface between them. The sounds of the ocean seemed distant. "How is the work progressing with the water diversion?"

"Canals are being dug as we speak. I have found that we are actually ahead of schedule." She raised the spoon of deep orange liquid to her mouth. The warm, spicy soup felt good going down. "Along with the inflow of resources from other Federation member planets, we should be able to expand further in the coming months."

An eyebrow ascended. "You possess nothing but positive news on the colonies growth. Yet you appear distracted, and somewhat dismayed. Why?"

Shutting her eyes and reopening them, T'Mar rejected her mind's first attempt at an answer. "I often consider what it would be like had we not experienced such a major setback. How much farther the Vulcan people would be today had the device not been built. I regret that my success had to come from my losses."

"Sister, you must not hold yourself responsible." The slightly younger Vulcan woman began. "The past years have been traumatizing and difficult for all Vulcans. We now lie on the edge of a new era for our people. We must not look back too much on the difficulties we struggled through."

"We must look forward. You are correct, I do see the wisdom in that." T'Mar sighed, inhaling the salty ocean air. Years of contemplation had brought her to a simple conclusion. Daniels had manipulated the Vulcans into allowing him control, maliciously using their need for assistance. He was the one who activated the device in lieu of the risks, opening the rip. He was responsible for all that took place. It was concise and logical, and what so many had told her. What Starfleet recognized.

Like Nero, Daniels was now infamous to the Vulcans. Yet for a strange reason, T'Mar could not as easily lay blame on the dead commodore as she could on the Romulan. Still inside her she felt some guilt for the happenings. But less than yesterday, less than last month.

The door chimed. Turning simultaneously, both women looked toward the entryway. "Enter." T'Mar called.

Striding in stiffly, Sepak clasped his hands behind his back and moved toward the two other Vulcans, gradually becoming illuminated by the sunset outside the wide balcony's vista. Placing a PADD down on the table between the bowls, he shared a glance with T'Mar.

"I brought the closing reports for the day. Though I believe they can wait." He swallowed softly. "It isn't often I get to appreciate New Vulcan from a view like this." He thoughtfully considered the cityscape. _Tomorrow brings a new dawn. And new light._ Slowly his hand slid down to his side, fingers reaching into the air until they brushed T'Mar's. The woman's fingers gradually wove between his, tightening in a single clasp. Finally the two shared a look.

Their thoughts were no longer on the sky, but between each other.

 **...**

 _Stardate 2263.189_

 _USS Enterprise –Marcus' Quarters_

 _"Personal log, Lieutenant Carol Marcus. Spent most of the day slogging through the mud, poking every puddle with a stick. And we weren't looking for samples, either. One of the science teams from yesterday came back missing an instrument kit, and seeing as Traco VI's civilization is about as far from warp drive as we are from Earth, we can't afford to take any chances._

 _We finally located the items in question not that far from where the shuttle picked us up last night. They didn't appear to have been tampered with. Thankfully. It was nice of the captain to help us search, even though he wasn't a member of the original landing party. When I asked him about it, he_ said _he wanted to "_ stop Spock's eyebrow from twitching like that _". But I noticed no such tic. If I had to guess, I'd say_ he _was the one who was feeling weird about it. Risk of suddenly altering the native's scientific knowledge set , I was hoping that wasn't the only reason..."_

That was where Lieutenant Carol Marcus' log stopped. Forgetting all about the open recorder file, the young science officer was now fully immersed in her readings in the ship's computer database. A passing thought about Helios had led to a long, in depth reading of accounts and studies from that fateful day. _At the time_ , she thought, _I was blissfully ignorant of all this back on Earth studying..._

 _That_ she couldn't remember. It didn't really matter. Her life had changed much since then. Memories of her own harrowing adventure involving her joining the crew of the _Enterprise,_ the _Vengeance_ , her father and Khan were long gone. She was on the flagship of the fleet, and on the greatest journey Starfleet had to offer. Five years in deep previously unreached space and planets, encountering new cultures and discovering new things that made any scientist's heart race with excitement.

For now, she used her time off shift to do her own research in the comfortable confines of her own quarters. The reading itself was mostly interesting, almost exciting to study. Sometimes, her face would contort with sadness or disgust at some details she rather wished had been left out, or skimmed over. At times she found Mister Scott's candid opinions accompanying the information to be quiet amusing. It was interesting how even the most direct and analytical approach to describing the Gorn invasion and subsequent ordeals the _Enterprise_ went through recovering it and saving the Vulcans and the Federation could be filled with such emotion.

Returning to reality, Carol pushed herself off her chair and shut down the screen. That would have to wait. If she kept reading anymore, she'd miss dinner.

"Computer, what time is it?" She waited only a second for a response, brushing a blonde lock of hair behind her ear.

"2108 hours."

 _Goodness._ She'd been wrapped in it all for almost two hours. _Forget dinner, I might not even get to sleep that night at this rate._ Purposely she strode toward the door. The mess hall would be crowded around now. She needed people around. Perhaps Uhura would be there, or Violet, or Zahra...

Quickly putting a jean jacket on over a light shirt, she did a quick check of her room before leaving. As the sliding doors swished open, she started at a smiling face staring back at her. A chuckled escaped the man's lips.

"Captain!" Smiling and shutting her eyes, she remembered that she wasn't on duty. "I mean, James. I'm surprised to see you here." Her cheeks felt hot. _Am I blushing?_

 **...**

Clad in a t-shirt and cargo pants, James Kirk eyed her curiously. "Hey, Carol. I thought I'd come by, since I was just about to grab a bite." Smiling, Kirk regarded her with a twinkle in his eye."You wanna come?"

"Sure. I was getting hungry myself." Stepping out into the hall, Marcus came up alongside the Captain. The doors behind her slid closed and locked.

"Shall we?" he indicated forward with a hand.

"Lead the way."

Kirk couldn't take his eyes away from the woman that walked almost in step with him. Though he had been with his fair share of women through, Carol was more than a simple relationship. She was becoming a close friend, slowly easing her way into his tight circle that included Spock, Uhura and McCoy. Something about her made him feel different.

Kirk, nodding at a few passing crewmen, broke the silence. "How's your day gone? You know, since our little excursion down on TracoVI? Hopefully things are a little better."

"Yeah, I'm alright." One hand passed over her hair."No harm done, though I did have to spend a good while getting mud and leaves out of my hair."

Again, Kirk grinned. He thought he had smelled a certain scent in her hair."Yeah, that was rough." He held back from smirking at the thought of Carol sliding down the steep embankment and rolling into another officer before coming to a stop in the muck.

Well, he tried to stop himself.

"Hey." She batted his arm. "It wasn't funny." Seeing the Captain's wide grin, she couldn't help but mirror it. "Alright, it was a _little_ funny."

Her shoulder length blonde hair swayed side to side as she straight forward, she bit her bottom lip, considering how to approach the Captain with what she wanted to say. "I have been reading up on the ship's database about the encounter you had with the Gorn, the _first_ one. At New Vulcan?"

Kirk was quite accustomed to the sound of her voice, particularly the unique quality her English accent gave it. "Yeah, that was something else. Doing more investigation into the Helios project?"

"Yes...at first." Stepping into the turbolift, Kirk told the lift which deck to head to, then turned back around to listen to what Carol had to say. "But then I began reading up on the basic details surrounding the tragedy. I wish I had before, because one thing led to another, and I found myself caught up in it for hours. The whole concept of Helios opening rips in space was fascinating, but the incredible lengths you and Mister Spock went through... Needless to say, I found myself quite lost in the adventure."

Her bright blue eyes were lit up with wonder and amazement. Kirk found himself quite lost as well, staring back into them. "It was difficult then, but a lot easier to think about now."He leaned against the wall. "This is good, now we have dinner conversation."

She drew back, eyes half open. "Really. Are you always this charming a dinner guest?"

"You'd be surprised what some of the ambassadors I've met consider appropriate table talk. I could tell you stories that would curl your hair." He reached out and twirled one of her blonde locks playfully.

The doors to the lift slid open, dropping the two people off just outside the mess hall. Quiet music filled the air as they entered into the subdued room. Tables weren't hard to come by, despite the large number of people that filled the area. Some danced, others chatted in large groups around over their meals.

Kirk knew these faces quite well. Lieutenant Commander Morgan Caldwell and his wife Nurse Kayla seemed quite consumed in each other's company. The intelligent young officer made frequent appearances on the bridge, manning a station to Kirk's right, sometimes filling in at Chekov's station. Kayla, on the other hand, Kirk saw often during his many trips to sickbay.

Doctor McCoy sat next to Mister Corwin and Miss Curtis, a distance away. The chief medical officer offered a friendly wave with a drink in one hand. After the day they'd had, Kirk reasoned it was likely he would find McCoy here with everyone else. Hendorff sat tall in his seat with a few friends by the bar. Engineers Jacks, Holland, Doherty, and Stanton worked even during their time off, trying to figure out the next wave of minor malfunctions in the ship's complex inner Operations Technician Okubu leaned on one elbow singing half heartedly at Ensign Amanda Boynton and Medical Tech Tate Finney, much to their amusement. Ensigns Gary, Lin, and Wells tried and failing to get Kai to understand their humour. Kevin Riley made his best attempt to impress Yeoman Rand with his knowledge of the stars and tales of his home in Ireland. Officer Thompson, Ensign Chandra...

Most Captains did not have time to get to know the personnel aboard their ships, due to the fact that either there were so many or the fact that there were so many other things to be responsible for as a starship captain. The chain of command required that a captain maintain his order and control over his crew. Though not stated as a rule among captains, it might as well have been. Still, he tried to become more than just a superior among his crewmen and –women. He wanted to be a friend to them as well. By the looks he received from a few of them, he was doing quite well with that.

Grabbing a chair and pulling it out in a swift motion, Kirk sidestepped to allow Carol to get seated. _"Thank you,"_ she conveyed with a grin. A moment later, menus were placed on the table by an officer serving as waiter. Though replicators were there to provide any food an officer wished to have, some still preferred on occasion to have real food. There was something intangible that could not be recreated artificially by even the best technology.

Clasping his hands on the table, Kirk seemed to settle himself in his chair in anticipation of the night's discussion. "Well, if you want to talk about Gorn, you've come to the right place. Though I warn you now, some of the details _might_ put you off the idea of food altogether."

"I'm aware of _those_ details. I was more interested in what _wasn't_ put in there." Her expression became concerned. "That must have been just awful. I mean, the death and destruction the Gorn caused, and you having a front row seat to all of it? I mean, how did Spock take it?"

"We all had it pretty rough." Kirk's eyes cast downward. "I still think about it occasionally. Comes back in dreams, when I least expect it." Taking a sip of his water, Kirk continued. "As for Spock? Not sure how often he thinks about it. He took the reserved approach to it all, but we could tell he was hurting." A brief shadow passed over his eyes. Distant echoing sounds reverberated in the back of his mind.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to conjure up all these bad memories." Carol felt very awkward in that moment. _Why did I ask that now? This was supposed to be fun..._

"No, it's okay." Kirk put up a hand. "I've found it's easier to talk to people about these things."

Both of Carol's hands folded over Kirk's. "You sure you're alright?"

"I don't know if Spock and I, or anyone else who was there, can forget that day. But yes, it's been easier these few years." Noticing the look on Carol's face, he tilted his head forward, his eyes searching for hers. "Hey, listen..." Her head and eyes lifted to his. "Enough about that for now. I promised this would be a good night. You've had enough of a bad day. I _do_ have plenty of very interesting stories surrounding that time as well. For instance, do you know that Bones is a very good shot? Spock knows that fact all too well."

Both of Carol's eyebrows rose. " _Leonard shot Spock?_ That actually happened? So then Spock really was attacking you on that planet!"

"I admit I lost, but I did hold my own." Kirk's chin lifted, feigning pride.

"I'll bet you did."

"No, really! And when those waves of Gorn came at us, it was just me and him. I felt like I was in a warzone." Kirk pointed to an item on the menu, and Carol dismissively agreed upon the same choice. "Then there was the planet, and of course the shuttle escape from the exploding station. Where should I begin?"

Smiling, Carol looked directly back at her dinner date. "The beginning. I've got lots of time."

"Helios-1, the station, was falling out of orbit and losing power. In hours, it would be consumed by the sun because the station's only protection, a solar shield, was failing. We had just gotten the crew beamed off when the whole thing began to explode! Luckily, when Spock, T'Mar and I were sent out into space, we had our helmets on. It was all I could, running like heck from the debris and fire to keep up with the others. Just when we were running out of space, Sulu comes swooping in, snatching us out of there and rushing us back to the _Enterprise_ in time! And then, when we started to relax, being safely aboard, that's when Chekov made us aware of the rip. That's when things got really interesting..."

For a long time, their food was forgotten. Laughter and smiles were exchanged between the two as the discussed further the harrowing adventure. It was almost after midnight before they finally noticed that the room had cleared and the night was over. Escorting her back to her quarters, Kirk fought the early signs of exhaustion. With a hug, they parted ways.

Kirk wanted to stay a little longer, wanted to see her flash that pretty smile again. His wide grin gave way to a yawn as exhaustion from his long day caught up with him. Grab a few hours of sleep, a little bacon and eggs, and right back to the bridge, bright and early. He'd see more of Carol, too. Kirk couldn't wait. Blinking several times, he headed down the corridor, sleepily nodding at the salutes of passing officers.

Carol watched his progress down the hall a moment longer before slipping into her room. She would have to make a note to herself to spend more evenings like this.

 **...**

Kirk still felt anticipation every time he walked onto the bridge. Professionally composed, he stopped short of the doors a moment before walking in.

"Keptin on the bridge!" Years of duty had not changed Chekov's youthful enthusiasm either. Sulu turned as well, moving his attention temporarily away from the controls. All eyes on the bridge locked onto the Captain, most eager to get the day underway. Smiling, took in the moment before stepping toward his chair.

"At ease." As he passed Marcus' station, he stopped briefly. "New day, new adventures. I hear we've got a lot to expect when we arrive in the next system. Science team prepared?"

Carol looked up from her display, brushing a lock of hair from her eyes. "You know me. Ready for anything." The two exchanged a look that went unnoticed by everyone except Uhura. After looking between the two of them, she quietly smiled and pivoted her chair back toward the station, her thoughts her own.

"All scans complete, sir." Sulu said, tapping a few pertinent controls and then facing the Captain. "Ship's prepared to leave orbit. Ready when you are."

"Mister Scott gives the all clear from engineering." Uhura added, giving him the thumbs-up. "All departments reporting the same."

Nodding, Kirk leaned to one side, clicking the comm pickup."Scotty, have the repairs finished?"

"Aye sir, she's good to go." Scott put his hands on his hips, eyeing around the core as its crew moved around monitoring every intricate detail. Keenser handed Scott a PADD. "Dilithium chamber efficiency is at a higher rate than I previously thought possible, and might I add we're _ahead_ of schedule?"

Kirk chuckled. " _That'll_ be a first."

The engineer 's face took on a sour look. "Begging your pardon, sir, but she's a big bloody _starship_ , not a wristwatch." He kept up the pretence of pouting for another few seconds before breaking into a small smile.

Kirk sat back, hands behind his head. "Yeah, I know, Scotty. Wasn't blaming you. Why don't you get a head start on one of your 'special projects'?"

"I might just do that. You should see what I've been cooking up lately. It's a doozy."

As Kirk stood, he turned off the comm, only to notice Spock and McCoy standing on either side. The Vulcan looked up from the PADD he had been studying. "Captain," he nodded, passing the handheld device to Kirk. "These are science team's preliminary findings on the Hallcan Bregorious system. There are eight planets, including two gas giants and six composed of rock cores. Long range scans of the asteroid field revealed an unusual stellar formation, along with a spurious signal of unknown origin."

Clapping a hand on Spock's shoulder, Kirk glanced down it, scrolling through the information. "Unknown signals and weird stars? Sounds intriguing..."

Spock's eyebrow rose. "I thought you would find it compelling, Captain. I am anticipating our arrival."

"And an M-class world?"

Spock looked out toward the viewscreen. "That planet, in fact, is projected to be in possession of quite a wide variety of life."

Kirk grinned. "Huh, well Bones, it looks like we might have to check that out..."

A chuckle rolled out of McCoy. "As long as we don't have to deal with spear-throwing natives or packs of hungry carnivores, I just might take you up on that."

"Well, on _that_ note, we shouldn't waste any time." Lowering into his Captain's chair, Kirk sat proud and tall gripping the arm rests. "Mister Sulu, take us out."

"Coordinates laid in. We're clear of the planet's atmosphere."

"Punch it."


End file.
